


The Devil Wears White

by OPWonders



Series: ASL Facility AU [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, ASL Have New Powers, ASL Joins Whitebeards, Angst, Child Abduction, Childhood Trauma, Eventual Happy Ending, Experimenting on Children, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Major Original Character(s), Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Death, Minor Original Character(s), Narcolepsy, Needles, Nightmares, Nothing OP, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Stronger ASL, Tattoos, darker themes, long story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:27:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 100
Words: 426,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22381060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OPWonders/pseuds/OPWonders
Summary: The ASL trio have been kidnapped, taken to a place that people only see in their nightmares. Children are tested on and lives are thrown away carelessly. How will they escape? If they do, who can they trust? And what's with these strange new powers? (ASL joining the Whitebeard Pirates! Stronger ASL! Not OP though. Darker themes! More powers! Nothing drastic.)
Series: ASL Facility AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660000
Comments: 55
Kudos: 364
Collections: Mine favoritter.





	1. And so the Adventure Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So, I'm new to AO3, but I've been posting on Fanfiction.net for a while now and thought I would expand my horizons a little. This story was originally posted on Fanfiction.net and I'm still getting used to AO3's formatting compared to Fanfiction so bare with me. This story has a special place in my heart because It's taken me many years to plan, outline, write, and edit it. With a whopping 100 chapters, I've put a lot of time and effort into this story and I'm proud to say that all 100 chapters are finished and on Fanfiction.net if you'd rather read them there instead of waiting for me to get them all up here on AO3. 
> 
> As mentioned before, I've spent years on this story and I've grown as a writer as time passed. Rereading these beginning chapters I see all the mistakes my past self missed and as much as I'd like to go through and edit them all, it would take far too long. I'd like to get all these chapters up within a week, but it'll take time. Again, if you'd rather go to FF and read them there, then by all means go ahead. If you want to wait for me to get them up here, then I applaud you for your patience.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> And, hello everybody! Im back with a new story that I've spent a lot of time thinking up and can't wait to get into! To start, I just want everyone to know that there are warnings for this story, so please read them. I don't want to offend or trigger anybody. I have much more to say, but I'll save it for after the chapter, for now, read the warnings and enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.
> 
> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo-10
> 
> Luffy-7

"You would think that you'd be able to hit the target and not yourself by now." Ace called to Luffy from where he sat. He sat on a branch beside Sabo, both watching as their youngest brother practiced his aim on a tree, a large one at that, and still managed to miss.

"Its not my fault! Its hard! If you had rubber arms you wouldn't be able to hit the target either!" Luffy whined, pouting as he rubbed his face.

"If it were me I wouldn't have eaten such a boring fruit in the first place! I would eat something much cooler." Ace replies with a grin, his arms crossed as he teased the youngest.

"My fruit is cool!" Luffy shouts indignantly, his hands closing into fists at his sides.

"Alright you two, calm down." Sabo says with a sigh, hoping to diffuse the situation before the two got into a full blown fight. It wouldn't be the first time.

"He started it..." Luffy mumbles, crossing his arms. Sabo shakes his head as he and Ace jump down from their tree branch.

"And you fell for it. I swear, can't you two just get along?" Sabo asks in slight desperation. Ace scoffs.

"When he stops being a crybaby." The freckled boy says, riling Luffy up once more.

I'm not a crybaby!" He shouts, Sabo groaning as he walked in between the two who were nearly butting heads. He pushed them apart, all three of them sending glares at someone, Ace to Luffy, Luffy to Ace, and Sabo to Ace _and_ Luffy.

"Now now, why don't we spar for a bit?" Sabo asked, immediately refocusing the bickering children's attention onto him. Smiles lit up their faces at the thought, though Aces was more of a smirk.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, the three heading to their usual spot for sparring.

As the boys walked they were unaware of the three people following them, having docked at the shore early that morning, on a mission to find three infamously strong brats in the woods. The men following the children grinned sadistically as they followed their targets, watching the smallest settle down by a chalkboard and the older two getting into battle stances.

"Why don't we nab 'em now?" One man asked, his black hair littered with grey, showing that the man wasn't as youthful as he once had been.

"Because, you idiot, they're about to tire themselves out and make it easier for us to get'em!" The one with fiery red hair exclaimed in exasperation.

"And then we can get off this god forsaken island and get paid." The last one, the one with bleach blond hair, said with a grimace, remembering the unnaturally large animals in this forest.

"Exactly! All we have to do now is be patient." The second man, red head, said, grinning once more.

It wasn't much longer until the three boys filled their sparring quota for the day, the three laying on the grass and looking through the trees' canopies to see the sky. It was peaceful, calm, and serene, but was swiftly interrupted by the sounds of something, _someone_ , jumping out of the trees and advancing on the boys.

"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise as Ace and Sabo sprung up into action, pipes in hand. Luffy followed suit after getting over his amazement at seeing three men appear out of nowhere from the tree surrounding them.

"Who the hell are you bastards?!" Ace asked, not recognizing the three from the Grey Terminal.

"That, boy, is none of your business. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Its your choice." The supposed leader, red head, said calmly. The three men slowly began advancing towards the kids and Aces glare hardened as he and Sabo tensed, ready to fight.

"Doing things the hard way is... hard." Luffy said, his brows furrowed in confusion. Why would he want to something the hard way? That would be annoying.

"See, we're all in agreement, now come with us and no one gets hurt." The leader said.

"Who would be stupid enough to do that?!" Ace shouted, running up to the man and swinging his pipe, hitting the mans legs with enough force to knock him to the ground with an _'oof'_ sound leaving him. Ace grinned triumphantly, spinning his pipe in his hand and stopping it on the ground.

"Oh, you've done it now brat!" The leader shouted, jumping back to his feet. The effect was immediate as the other two men jumped in as well, the one with black hair attacking Sabo and the blonde fighting Luffy. When it was obvious that the kids were outmatched Sabo sent a worried glance towards Ace.

"Ace, we should run!" Sabo shouted, to which Ace glared back.

"Never! I don't run away from a fight!" Ace shouted. Sabo glared back.

"Yeah, and it'll get you killed one day!" Sabo shouted back. The two's attention was pulled to Luffy when the boy made a noise of pain. Upon inspection it was obvious what happened, the blonde had pulled out a knife and had grazed Luffy's arm, making it harder for him to use his pipe.

"Ace!" Sabo shouted, turning his attention back to Ace. Ace's glare hardened and he went silent, focusing back on the red head who was grinning in preemptive triumph.

"Ace, _we have to run!_ " Sabo shouted, emphasizing every word, only to growl in frustration when he was promptly ignored. With a huff of annoyance Sabo pulled his attention to his opponent, hitting him in the head with enough force to stun him momentarily. Using this as his opportunity he rushed over to Luffy who was quickly losing his battle and sprung up behind the blonde fighting him, swinging his pole down and stunning him as well.

"Luffy, run to Dadans, get help!" Sabo shouted, Luffy watching with confusion, apprehension on his face. He couldn't just leave his brothers here alone! He had to help!

" _GO!_ " Sabo shouted, louder than he'd ever heard him shout before. This shocked Luffy enough that his eyes widened and he almost robotically nodded, spinning and rushing off into the forest surrounding them, headed towards Dadan. The leader of the men, having seen this, growled, anger blossoming onto his face.

"Go after him!" He shouted to the one with black hair who was just recovering from Sabo's hit. He nodded, running after Luffy while Sabo turned to the blonde, hitting him a few extra times on the head to make sure he stayed down before he turned to the leader, taking a stance beside Ace. The eldest brother looked at Sabo from the corner of his eye and smirked, Sabo shaking his head, eyes narrowed.

"You're such an idiot!" Sabo exclaimed as he jumped towards red head. Ace glared, scowling.

"Am not!" He shouted, jumping after Sabo, both of their pipes raised and ready to continue fighting.

"Both of you brats are idiots who are going to regret choosing the hard way!" Red head exclaimed in fury, getting ready to defend against the attacks.

Meanwhile Luffy was running as fast as his little legs allowed him to. He had the advantage of knowing the forest like the back of his hand, allowing him to take shortcuts and run around trees and jumps over roots with practiced ease while his pursuer was having trouble keeping up, tripping on said roots and running into those trees Luffy passed with ease.

"Almost there, almost there!" Luffy repeated to himself, like a mantra, as he ran through. He could practically hear the bandits from there, practically see their hut behind the trees. A smile spread on his face as he took a deep breath, preparing his lungs.

" _DADAN~!_ " Luffy's shout was so loud that the birds in the surrounding trees flew away and the black haired man had to pause to hold his ears, only to recover and rush forward in fury, grabbing Luffy by his scruff and lifting him into the air.

"You damn brat!" He shouted, turning and carrying Luffy over his shoulder as he ran back to the others. Luffy felt the terror begin to fill him after he realized that he had just been captured. What was going to happen? Ace and Sabo would save him, right? They always did! Or maybe even Dadan, she had to have heard his shout! He made sure he had been extra loud so that, even if she was sleeping, she would have heard him!

The straw hat wearing boy was carried through the forest swiftly, the man carrying him worried over the fact that people might be coming now thanks to the loud mouthed child. Soon enough he was back at the others. The blonde one was up again and Ace and Sabo were being tied up by the leader.

"We gotta go, this one called for someone and I'm pretty sure they're on their way!" Black hair said, throwing Luffy to the ground, Ace and Sabo shouting in protest, though not able to do much seeing as their hands and feet were bound.

"Well in that case we don't have any time to waste. Everyone grab a kid, lets go!" The leader ordered, grabbing Ace. Sabo and Luffy were unceremoniously picked up again and the men ran through the forest quickly, making their way down the mountain and to the shore where there was a small boat waiting. The brothers were carried onboard quickly and dropped in the middle of the deck as the three men split up. The leader disappeared into a room while the other two were busy unfurling the sails and raising the anchor, preparing the boat to leave.

"Luffy, come here!" Sabo whispered urgently. Seeing as the men had been rushed they hadn't tied Luffy up, leaving the boy free. Luffy shuffled over to Sabo quickly, Ace scooting closer as well so he could hear what was happening.

"Luffy, try to untie my hands, if you do I can get my feet untied!" Sabo whispered, Ace nodding his agreement. Luffy nodded quickly, moving behind Sabo to untie him, tongue sticking out in concentration as he tried to pull the knot apart. Was it just him or was this knot getting tighter? Undeterred Luffy tried harder, Ace and Sabo watching to make sure they weren't caught. Luffy continued pulling and unraveling and, probably due to a miracle, the knot unraveled away, freeing Sabo's hands.

"Good job Lu! Now untie Ace!" Sabo said, already getting to work on untying his feet. Luffy nodded, a feeling of pride swelling inside him from the praise and being able to help his brothers. He moved over to Ace and began pulling at the knot again, trying to move as fast as he could. He was almost done, he just knew it, but before he could finish the door opened and the leader walked out along with one other guy, this one with silver hair and eyes.

"And what do we have here?" Silver hair asked just as Luffy untangled Aces knot, Sabo doing the same to his own binds as well, standing in a defensive pose while Ace quickly worked at untying his feet.

"Who are you?" Sabo asked in a calculating tone, eyes narrowing. Ace practically ripped the ropes off and stood beside Sabo, Luffy in between the two.

"Me? No one you brats need to concern yourselves with. Put them away and get us on course to the damn island. The sooner these brats are gone the better." Silver eyes said to the red head who nodded.

"Yes sir." Red head said, indicating that the silver eyed man was the boss of this whole thing.

"Lets go brats." Red head said, shoving the three to a door behind them, much to Ace and Sabo's protests. Luffy merely watched in confusion and slight fear, understanding that, whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

"Hey! Let us go! Are you listening to me?!" Ace shouted furiously, doing his best to kick and punch at the red headed man who had grabbed his arm. Sabo's arm was also in the red headed mans grip as he also tried his best to get out of the hold, but he was having much the same luck as Ace. Luffy was grabbed by the black haired man before he even had the thought of running or helping Ace and Sabo.

"Now stay quiet!" Red head shouted as all three boys were thrown into a dark room the size of a closet.

"I'll show you-!" Ace was cut off by the door slamming in his face before he could run out, leaving him glaring in the darkness. The only light in the room came from the crack under the door and barely illuminated the boys faces. Once night hit, the room would be pitch black. Ace grumbled, crossing his arms and turning to Sabo and Luffy.

"Bastards." He growled out. Sabo ignored his temperamental brother and instead started looking around for anything that could help them get out, running a hand through his short hair. In the middle of their capture his hat had flown off and he hadnt gotten a chance to get it back. Briefly, he noticed Luffy still had his though and was thankful for that small miracle. If Luffy had lost his straw hat he would have been inconsolable, and they already had enough problems on their plate.

"Anyone know why those guys took us in the first place?" Sabo asked. He could see his brothers shaking their heads in the dim light and sighed.

"They don't look familiar? Maybe we stole from them?" Sabo asked, though the last question was more of a thought that he accidentally said out loud, still brainstorming as to why they would have been captured.

"I think I would have remembered stealing from those ugly mugs." Ace said with a glare as he pointed behind him to the door.

"I don't think I stole from them. Ne, Sabo, do you think Dadan heard me? I made sure to yell extra loud!" Luffy asked innocently, hoping that their sorta kinda caregiver would come to rescue them.

"Im sure she did, after all, Ace and I heard you and we were much further away!" Sabo said with a smile. Luffy beamed at this, sitting down and running his fingers through the dust on the ground. With Luffy preoccupied for the moment Sabo got back to inspecting the room, though there wasn't much to inspect. The room was completely bare, dark and empty. The only thing in it was the dust Luffy was playing with and the brothers themselves.

"Well I'm not just gonna sit here and let them take us who knows where!" Ace shouted suddenly, standing and turning to the door, turning the knob with no luck. His next step was to start banging on the door, and then to start throwing his weight against it, again, with no luck. Luffy watched on with interest and at one point even began to cheer on his freckled brother, while Sabo watched with a sigh. He had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy to get out.

"Ace stop, we have to think about this." Sabo said calmly, trying to reason with his hot headed brother.

" _Think?!_ What's the good in wasting time thinking when we can ram the door down and leave?!" Ace asked, enraged. Sabo did his best not to take his brothers anger to heart, knowing he was frustrated at being caught, not at Sabo himself.

"Say we do ram the door down, then what? Run out and fight the four grown adults with no weapons?" Sabo asked, being sure to keep his tone even.

"Well-... Yeah! We can take 'em! Then we can get off this stupid boat and go back home!" Ace shouted, Luffy watching the two argue like a game of tennis.

"Alright, we magically ram the door down, then miraculously knock out our captors with zero effort at all. What's next on your list of good ideas? We've already cast off, as in, we're now surrounded by water, something that Luffy has no chance of swimming through seeing as he's eaten a devil fruit!" Sabo said, slowly loosing his calm exterior.

"I can carry him!" Ace shouted back defiantly. Sabo groaned, face palming.

"That's not the point Ace! Even if that was possible we would still need to get out of this room, which you're not having much luck in doing." Sabo said, his calm tone coming back. Ace puffed his cheeks in chagrin.

"So what's the plan Sabo?! Why're you so calm?!" Ace asked, still annoyed.

"Because, there's no point in being angry right now when there's nothing we can do. Our best bet is to wait for someone to open the door so we can get out and worry about everything else after. Besides, from the looks of it, the man wants us alive." Sabo said. This confused Ace, causing him to tilt his head, Luffy observing and copying the motion.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Ace questioned, his anger melting to confusion.

"Yeah!" Luffy mimicked, probably just wanting to add to the conversation. The boy was most likely bored already despite the situation they were in.

"Well, for one we're alive right now. Instead of hurting, or even killing us, he had us locked in here. Also, he was determined to head towards some island and said that the sooner we were gone the better, meaning he's probably taking us to someone who wants us more then he does." Sabo said, recalling everything that's happened.

"Who would want _us_?" Ace asked. Sabo had wondered the same thing, but didn't like any of the answers he came up with. Maybe someone found out about Luffys parents*, or his, or even Aces. Maybe some nobles wanted him back. Maybe some pirates they stole from wanted revenge. Maybe the marines finally found out about the three kids Garp was practically hiding away in the mountains of a random island. The possibilities were endless.

"Who knows, there's a lot of reasons someone would want us." Sabo said quietly. It was quiet after that, Ace deciding to just sit down despite his previous determination to leave, and Sabo watched Luffy as he continued playing in the dust. The first thing to break the silence was Luffys stomach growling loudly, the boy looking up with a pout.

"Im hungry~." Luffy whined, frowning and holding his stomach.

"I know Lu, but we just have to wait and hope they give us food soon." Sabo said, voice laced with concern for the youngest, knowing how much he needed to eat and how little they were probably going to be fed. Ace scoffed.

"If they feed us at all. Bastards." Ace grumbled. Sabo shot him a glare, one that told him that he was not helping the situation, but sighed in defeat instead, turning back to Luffy.

"Why don't I tell you a story?" He asked, knowing that might drag Luffys attention away from how hungry he was. Luffy immediately brightened at the idea, nodding happily.

"Mm! Sabos stories are always the best!" Luffy cheered, settling in to listen. Sabo smiled and immediately launched into a story that he had read about pirates who were bad turning good to save a princess which enthralled Luffy immensely, especially when he brought up all the adventures the crew went on.

"And legend says that they were the freest pirates in the world." Sabo said after finishing his story. He noticed that even Ace had been listening, leaning forward on his hands as if he could hear better that way. Sabo smiled, turning his attention back to Luffy who was cheering happily.

"I wanna be free like that too! Im gonna get a crew and become pirate king, and then I'll be freer than anyone else in the whole entire world!" Luffy cheered, and Sabos smile widened at the unbridled joy that Luffy had just from the thought.

"Im sure you can do it Lu, right Ace?" Sabo asked, turning back to Ace who quickly pretended that he didn't care.

"A crybaby like him? As if." Ace scoffed, leaving Sabo to shake his head and Luffy to pout.

"Im not a crybaby!" Luffy whined for the millionth time. It seemed this argument always found a way to come back up with these two. Before Ace had a chance to retort though the door opened, their blonde captor walking in with a tray.

"Dinner brats." It was then that the three noticed how dark it was outside and the fact that they had been sitting in darkness for a while now. Before the brothers could do anything the plates were on the ground and the door was closed, leaving the boys in darkness once more.

"Food!" Luffy cried happily, undeterred. Everyone managed to grab a plate and began eating, Luffy and Ace finishing quickly, still hungry.

"That tasted like rotten crocodile." Ace said, pushing his empty plate away. Sabo nodded his agreement as he slowly finished, but Luffy was still grinning.

"I want seconds!" He said cheerfully, Ace rolling his eyes in response.

"There is no more idiot." Ace said causing Luffy to pout.

"But I'm still hungry..." Luffy said sadly.

"Why don't we go to sleep? In the morning we can figure out how we're going to get out of here." Sabo suggested, settling down onto the floor. Ace shrugged, laying down as well beside Sabo, Luffy moving in between them and laying down as well.

"Dadans coming for us, right?" Luffy asked softly, staring at the ceiling, though he could only see darkness. Sabo and Ace hesitated at that, glancing at each other. Finally Ace broke the silence, nudging Luffy.

" 'Course she is! I bet she'll even get the shitty gramps to come looking, and if that happens these bastards are screwed!" Ace said, determination filling his voice. This caused Luffy to smile, pulling his hat over his eyes.

"Mm! Gramps'll beat 'em all up!" Luffy said, the cheeriness back in his voice. The youngest quickly settled down after that, going quiet until his breathing evened out and his mouth opened slightly, indicating that he was sleeping. Sabo sighed.

"What if they don't come?" Sabo asked, wondering if Dadan would risk telling Garp what happened. Of course she would, right? Even if she had a tough exterior she always had a soft spot for the three, but even if she told Garp would he find them? Would he use this as training? What if they got too far too fast and were taken to a remote island that wasn't on any maps?

Sabo was shaken out of these musings by Aces harsh tone.

"They will. Even if he is a shitty gramps he wouldn't leave us. Besides, the whole island probably heard Luffy. Someone'll come for us." Ace said, seeming to say it more for his own reassurance then Sabos. Sabo turned, watching his brother carefully, but he couldn't see much except that he was staring up like Luffy had. The ex-noble opened his mouth to speak but thought against it and merely nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Night Ace." Sabo said, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

"Night Sabo."


	2. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Days passed quickly. Quicker than the brothers would like to admit. Sabo had been right about the kidnappers here needing to keep them alive because they were fed three times a day. They weren't given much, barely crumbs compared to Ace and Luffy's usual portions, and the food was questionable at best, but at least they could always make out what it was supposed to be. For example, the hard, stale brick of brown was bread, the round, mushy browned object was an old apple, and the green mush was peas. They were also given a cup of water each with every meal and Sabo could already see the effects of hunger on his brothers.

Luffy, although thin to begin with, was quickly beginning to show bone, and his usual rambunctious nature was toned down, barely allowing him to do a lap around the closet without running out of energy. Ace was slightly better off, though his bad mood only got worse with each minute spent in their dark closet. The freckled boy was hungry, yes, but he wasn't thinning nearly as fast as Luffy was. Sabo was ok in terms of hunger, not having the large appetite his brothers had, though he was a little hungry. He always made sure to give Luffy and Ace some of his food despite their protests. He didn't need it as much as they did.

Seeing as they didn't have much to do in their closet Sabo had taken on the role of entertaining, whether it was through telling stories or even teaching his siblings the alphabet in the dust that accumulated on the ground. Ace was too grouchy most of the time to do much of anything except pout and bang on the door, and Luffy was more subdued than he usually was ever since they had been kidnapped. The youngest was quieter as well, but when he did speak it was as if nothing had changed. His voice was still as upbeat as normal and his smiles were still just as bright.

"We should just bust the door down already!" Ace shouted after having stewed in anger for a few hours. Sabo sighed, having had this argument with Ace a multitude of times throughout their stay.

"Again, we can't do that, it's been, what, 2 weeks since we've been taken? We haven't stopped at a single island and were in the middle of the ocean!" Sabo said, exasperated. Luffy was ignoring the fighting, having heard it many times before, and instead was crouched, one arm wrapped around his legs that were huddled to his chest, chin resting on his knees, while his free hand drew in the dust.

Oh! Was that a spider?!

The fight Ace and Sabo were having was completely blocked from Luffy's mind as he smiled brightly at the little creature he was sharing a room with. Seeing the small bug reminded him of the bugs back in the forest and his smile faltered a little, but he shook those thoughts away, holding his hand out for the spider to crawl onto. After a little coaxing, AKA, continuously moving in the spiders' path, it climbed onto his hand and he watched as it crawled around and around, laughing.

"Then what do we do?! Wait another week? Or year?!" Ace yelled, waving his arms in the air. Luffys attention was drawn back to the fight, the smile leaving his face as he dropped his hand, letting the spider crawl off and away.

"We don't have a choice Ace! We're stuck in here! It's not like I want to do nothing, but when our other options are to go out there and die I'd rather sit here and hope we reach a damn island soon!" Sabo shouted back, equally frustrated. Luffys frown deepened, hating that his brothers were fighting in the first place, hating that they were stuck in this stupid dark room, hating that he couldn't do anything to help, and especially hating how hungry he was.

"Oi, brats, quit your yellin'!" The door opened and the black haired man came in with their food, lunch, setting it down and shutting the door quickly, as always, never giving Ace enough time to rush out. Luffys mood got a little better at seeing his plate of food slide his way, courtesy of Sabo who was shaking his head, frown ever present on his face.

"We'll get out Ace, we just have to wait," Sabo said softly, staring at his portion of food, handing Luffy his roll and giving Ace his peas, leaving himself with the bruised apple.

"Yeah, well I'm sick of waiting." Ace grumbled. It was silent after that, the three finishing their food soon enough. With nothing to do Sabo decided to try and teach the two again, though it seemed only Luffy was really listening and trying. It was actually surprising that Luffy was trying to learn, but Sabo guessed it was mostly because the normally rambunctious child had nowhere to go or anything better to do. Glancing at Ace he saw the freckled boy pouting once more, arms crossed.

"You know, at this rate, Luffy'll know how to read before you do," Sabo said in an almost sing-song voice, a smile growing on his lips when Ace turned a glare his way.

"Really?! I'll be better than Ace at something?! Cool!" Luffy cheered, determination to actually learn increasing. Ace huffed, standing with fists at his sides as he stormed over.

"Like that'll ever happen! I'm older so its only natural that I'm smarter than a crybaby like you!" Ace said, plopping down beside Sabo and looking at the scribbles in the dust, trying to make sense of what the different lines meant. Now Luffy was pouting, arms crossed.

"I'm not a crybaby." He mumbled, though was ignored by his older brothers as Sabo tried catching Ace up.

That was how the next few days went. Ace and Sabo would occasionally argue, Sabo would teach them the best he could, and they would eat the horrible food they were given, hoping to gain their freedom at the next island they landed on.

And when the one month mark of being held captive was reached, it happened.

"We have to land at an island eventually, right?!" Ace asked, completely fed up with being trapped in the dark closet.

"It _has_ been a month, they have to be running low on supplies by now," Sabo said, though more to himself.

"Well the first thing I'm doing is getting out of this damn room!" Ace said. And he was right. When the ship finally docked at an island later that day, the first thing that happened was that he got out of that room. They all did.

Except there was a slight detail that was left out.

They were dragged out.

The three that had kidnapped them originally came into the room without warning, each grabbing one of the brothers without hesitation. The brothers were too weak from lack of food to do much against the grown, healthy, fed, adults, and there was the added disadvantage of having been locked in a closet where they had nowhere to run, exercise, or train. It was as easy as taking candy from a baby.

"We can finally get rid of you brats!" Silver eyes said as he walked onto the deck with his lackeys carrying the three.

"Let us go!" Ace growled out, trying his best to wiggle out of his captors' grip. The brothers were blinded by the sun, unable to truly see where they were going as they were carried off the ship and onto land. The intense brightness was giving them headaches.

"Three kids, as promised." Silver eyes was speaking, obviously to another person, but the brothers were still too disoriented and only just starting to get over the brightness.

"Perfect, your payment, as usual. Pleasure doing business with you once more." A new voice said.

"Likewise." And suddenly the brothers were being transferred to new arms.

"Time for the first test." The new voice said. Just as their vision cleared they felt a prick in their arms, and suddenly, everything went black.

_**/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Ugh..." Ace groaned as he slowly came too. What had happened? Was he still in that stupid closet? What time was it? It was dark, but there was a dim light coming from somewhere that illuminated enough of the room that Ace was able to see more clearly then he had when in that closet.

This definitely was not the closet.

As he glanced around he saw that he was in a cell, the bars giving that fact away, though there were concrete walls surrounding him on every other side. The cell was just barely bigger than the closet had been, but everything, besides the metal bars, was concrete. The floor was just as dusty though, and the room was still dark, though not as dark. He saw Sabo and Luffy passed out beside him and saw they were still breathing, relieving him. Standing proved to be disorienting, the world seeming to tilt, causing him to stumble. There was a pounding in his head and his body ached, though there was a pain in his wrist that demanded his attention. Lifting his wrist to his face he looked at the underside where the stinging was coming from and blinked in confusion at what he saw.

In bold black ink, there was the numbers 11062 tattooed onto the inside of his wrist. The skin around the numbers was red and the area stung like he was stung by a bunch of bees. Now Ace was thoroughly confused and annoyed that someone had given him the stupid tattoo in the first place. And what did the numbers mean? Wanting answers Ace moved to the bars, slower then he would have liked seeing as he was still disoriented and feeling slightly sick. Once he reached the bars he grabbed them to steady himself, shivering at how cold to the touch they were. Peering outside the cell proved difficult as he couldn't fit his head between the bars. The cell they were in was at the end of a hallway, the left being a wall, while the right showed what seemed to be a never-ending hallway of even more cells. It had to end though, right? He blamed the lack of lighting for the illusion, seeing as there was only one light bulb that he could see dangling from the hallway ceiling a cell down from him.

Grumbling in frustration Ace spun around, once again nearly falling over, and looked for any way to escape. There were no windows, no cracks, no holes, nothing. They were locked in yet another, this time literal, cage. Well, at least this one had a toilet in it. Their previous captors had not been so nice.

"Sabo, Luffy, get up!" Ace hissed, falling to the ground and shaking his two brothers. He began to notice just how cold it was in the cell, as well as how loud it was outside of the cell. He could hear what sounded to be people in pain, but there was also the faint sound of screaming that unnerved him.

"Wake up idiots!" Ace said, masking his worry with anger as he usually did. When Sabo groaned he nearly sighed in relief but held back.

"Ace?" Sabo asked, rubbing his eyes, squinting.

"About time you woke up!" Ace said. Sabo was still confused and had many of the same feelings Ace had woken up with, sore everything, pounding in the head, slightly sick feeling, and the stinging on his wrist. Confused he lifted his wrist up, brows furrowed as he didn't quite connect what he was seeing to what it actually was.

"Its a tattoo. I got one too." Ace said with a scowl, lifting his arm to show Sabo his own tattoo. Sabos was the same as Aces except his number was 11085.

"Wha-? Where are we? What happened?" Sabo questioned, glancing around, still extremely confused. Ace sighed in frustration.

"I don't know where we are, but its a cell, and I don't know what happened. I think we were drugged." Ace said, unhappy with the mere thought of that. Sabo was silent a minute, trying to shake the sick and dizzying feeling away.

"Ye-... yeah... yeah... that would make sense, right? I think I remember getting poked by something, probably a needle..." Sabo said, blinking away the fog. Ace nodded.

"Me too. Whoever these damn bastards are I'm gonna beat them up!" Ace declared, though there was no possible way that he could do that at the moment.

"How's Luffy?" Sabo asked, glancing around for the youngest, finding him curled up beside him.

"Sleeping still. Oi, Luffy, get up!" Ace said, slightly louder than normal as he began shaking the boy. Luffy stirred slightly, eyebrows furrowing as he slowly sat up and blinked his eyes opened, confused.

"Ace? Sabo? Where are we?" Luffy asked, and Ace swore if he had to hear that question one more time he was going to explode. Sensing his brothers' annoyance Sabo took charge this time.

"We don't know Lu, we're someplace new," Sabo said calmly. Luffy looked even more confused the more awake he became.

"I hurt everywhere!" Luffy whined.

"Well so do we, suck it up." Ace demanded, crossing his arms. Luffy stuck his tongue out at his brother in retaliation.

"Meanie!" Luffy said, Sabo rolling his eyes.

"Luffy, let me see your wrist," Sabo said, taking his brothers left wrist in his hand and flipping it over, finding the same tattoo, this time with the numbers 11097.

"What's that? Oh, is it that cool marker I use sometimes on Aces face?!" Luffy asked, a smile brightening on his face. Ace glared in fury while Sabo shook his head, frowning.

"No Lu, its a tattoo," Sabo said, sighing and dropping the wrist, massaging his head. His headache was only getting worse.

"A tattoo? I don't remember getting that..." Luffy said, head tilting as he tried to remember.

"We all got one when we were sleeping, dummy." Ace said gruffly. Luffy straightened, understanding shining on his face now.

"Oh, that makes sense!" Luffy exclaimed as if that answered all his questions.

"The question is, why did we get them...?" Sabo asked, looking back at his own numbers.

"No, the question is how do we get out of here?!" Ace shouted angrily, stomping back towards the bars.

"HEY! ANYONE THERE?! LET US OUT OF HERE!" Ace shouted down the hall, his voice echoing and mingling with the many other sounds of pain coming from the other cells. Sabo frowned, moving to the bars as well with Luffy, both stumbling slightly before righting themselves. Peering out they saw nothing but more cells on either side of the dim hallway.

"No one's gonna listen to you." A voice said from the cell across from them.

"Oh yeah, and who the hell are you?" Ace spat out. They couldn't see into the cell so they couldn't tell who was talking nor how old they were.

"I'm 11049." The voice said, their voice seeming to belong to a boy, though slightly higher pitched.

"11049?" Sabo asked, thinking to his own tattooed number.

"Yeah, you know, the number on your wrist? No one here cares what your real name is, just whatever numbered test subject you are." This only confused the brothers more.

"What's a test subject?" Luffy asked innocently. Sabo hesitated, he and Ace sharing a glance, before turning back to the youngest.

"It doesn't matter Lu, why don't you explore the cell, or even draw in the dust?" Sabo suggested. Luffy smiled and nodded, not really interested in the conversation anyway, and moved further into the cell. Sabo sighed in relief, turning to face outside the bars again.

"So, we're test subjects?" Sabo asked.

"Exactly. All we're good for now is letting those doctors run tests on us and hoping we did good enough to get food." 11049 said bitterly before being attacked by a coughing fit.

"You don't even fight back?!" Ace asked in anger. There was a strained laugh from 11049, almost a little too weak.

"Once you're in here your life expectancy isn't more than 2 weeks, at best 3. Fighting back does you no more good than jumping into the lion's mouth willingly." They said, their voice growing more and more quiet with every word.

"Well... how long have you been here?" Sabo asked, his mind running 100 miles an hour at the thought that this could be it for him and his brothers.

"... 2 and a half weeks, and let me tell you, each day is a new level of hell." 11049 said.

"Good luck, maybe you guys'll be different." The sentence was said with a strange bitterness, almost as if they didn't believe their words as they were saying them. It went silent after that, the coughs gone and a silence reigning over the two cells.

"What does that mean?! Oi! Hey!" Ace probably would have kept trying to get a response if Sabo hadn't placed his hand on his shoulder, eyes wide.

"Ace I... I think they died..." He said quietly, mindful of Luffy who had been playing in the dust. Aces eyes widened at the prospect, turning to look out the bars again before a frown grew on his face and he slammed his fist on the bars.

" _Damnit!_ " He shouted in fury, storming off to the corner of the cell, leaving Sabo to stare sadly at 11049's cell. Luffy had looked up at Aces outburst, frowning slightly, confused. He didn't want to bother Ace right now, his oldest brother looked like he would snap at him if he tried getting close, and even Sabo looked weird. Luffy knew that since they had been kidnapped his brothers had been constantly worried, but there had been nothing he could do but continue trying to stay happy.

"Sabo?" He asked quietly, watching his brother turn to look at him, his eyes still slightly wide and skin a shade paler than normal.

"Its ok Lu, we'll be fine, just stressed is all," Sabo said, though not as reassuring as he had hoped to be. Luffy merely nodded, watching Sabo as he moved to the wall and sat against it, putting his head in his hands. He looked back at Ace to see him hugging his legs, head resting on his knees. Luffy wasn't nearly as happy as he had previously been, a frown forming on his face at the thought of his brothers being so mad and sad.

They didn't know how long they had been unconcious before, and they didn't know how much time had passed since they had woken up in the cell. It felt like maybe an hour had passed, but they had no way of knowing what time it was, or even what time of day it was. There were no windows anywhere. Sabo thought that they might be in a basement due to the fact that it was so cold and dark.

A sound down the hall drew the brothers attention, Ace running to the bars, fury still on his face.

"What do you see?" Sabo asked. Ace squinted as if he would be able to see better in the dark if he did. After a few seconds of silence- if you didn't count the other people there making sounds of pain- Aces expression turned to anger.

"Hey! Who're you?! Where are we?!" Ace shouted, voice echoing down the hall. Sabo moved to the bars as well, seeing a person in the distance walking towards their end of the hall, peering into every cell as he moved, nodding at some, frowning at others. Eventually, he got to their cell, peering at the one across from them and sighing, shaking his head, writing something down on a clipboard before turning to them, a bright smile on his face.

"Ah, you three are awake! Wonderful!" He said, his voice almost too cheery as he scribbled more things down on his clipboard. When he finished he put the pen in his coat pocket, giving them his full attention.

"Welcome to the facility, I'll be your doctor, Haru!" Haru announced. Ace continued to glare at him and Sabo felt uneasy just being near the guy. Luffy was watching from the back of the cell, frown on his face and unease filling him

"Let us out of this stupid cell!" Ace shouted, gripping the bars tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. Haru sighed, clicking his tongue and waving his finger.

"Now now, I know you're eager, but you three aren't scheduled for tests until after lunch." He said as if they wanted to be here. Ace growled at him, sticking his face up to the bars.

"I don't want to be apart of your stupid tests! Let us out of here!" He shouted. Haru pretended not to hear him, smiling again and turning to look at Sabo, and then Luffy.

"Yes, you three will make fine test subjects. You're the one with the devil fruit, correct 11097?" He asked, staring at Luffy who didn't say anything, not liking the look in the 'doctors' eyes.

"Leave him alone!" Ace growled out, not liking the way he was looking at his brother. Sabo's eyes narrowed as well, the unease leaving long enough for the anger to settle in as he felt the familiar protectiveness over his youngest brother fill him.

"I can't wait until this afternoon! Breakfast will be here soon." Haru said, turning and walking away, Ace glaring at his back until he couldn't see him anymore. Sabo turned to Luffy, moving to comfort him as the straw-hatted boy seemed unnerved.

"It'll be ok Lu. Why don't I tell you about these cool pirates, the Royal Renegades?" Sabo suggested, Luffy turning to look in interest. Encouraged Sabo continued.

"Their jolly roger was a grinning skull and crossbones with a tilted crown on its head. It was said that everyone on the crew used to be some sort of royalty, King, Queen, Princess, Prince, or even just the cousin of a king." Sabo said. Luffy slowly became more interested.

"Why did they become pirates?" He asked in a soft voice. Sabo grinned widely at the question.

"Because they wanted to be free."


	3. Soup, Tests and Needles, Oh My!

Time in the cell passed quickly. Ace and Luffy were distracting themselves, listening to Sabos many stories, and before they knew it there was a new sound coming from the hallway.

"It sounds like something's rolling, like a cart..." Sabo mused, stopping his story as he and Ace moved to the bars to look out. Luffy didn't move from his spot, though he hadn't moved from there the entire time except when they talked to 11049. Ace and Sabo watched the darkness for movement, Luffy watching his brothers. Eventually, they were able to see that it was a cart being pushed by someone new. They would stop at every cell, open the door, and slide something in before closing the door again and moving on to the next. Soon enough they were able to see that it was bowls filled with some strange green soup. Sabo cringed at the repulsive color of it and stepped away from the bars.

"I guess breakfast is here." He said, sighing and sitting. Ace stayed at the bars, yelling at the guy who promptly ignored him. Soon enough the man reached their cell, sliding in their own bowls as well as a cup of water each. Luffy looked at it, face scrunched as he tried making out what was in the soup. It was an unappetizing shade of green with unidentifiable chunks in it and the smell was worse than sour milk.

"What _is_ this?" Luffy asked, lifting his spoon and watching the almost slimy substance drip off his spoon.

"Food... maybe?" Sabo said, unsure.

"I don't think this even classifies as garbage." Ace said, his face scrunched in disgust.

"Well... it's better than nothing... I think..." Sabo said lifting the spoon and looking at it, his face scrunching up as he took a bite. Ace and Luffy watched in amazement as Sabo was able to swallow it, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

" _Not good..._ " He groaned, but he was right, it was the best they had, so they all held their noses as they ate, slowly but surely.

"It tastes worse than medicine!" Luffy whined, though he continued to eat it without any complaints. When they were finished the three felt sick to their stomachs, but they weren't hungry, which was a first.

"Ugh, that was worse than anything I've ever tasted!" Ace moaned out, chugging his water, though the taste still lingered.

And so they were left alone once more with nothing to do. Instead of telling more stories Sabo decided to teach Luffy and Ace a little more on how to read. After some time passed they were given lunch, the same green slime, and water.

"Didn't that wacko ' _doctor_ '," Ace made quotes with his fingers at the word doctor, a scowl on his face.

"Say something about tests after lunch?" Ace asked, not liking the sound of it. Sabo frowned, nodding, while Luffy merely looked confused.

"Tests?" He asked.

"That's correct! Are you all ready?" The voice came from outside their cell, a familiar one at that. Haru walked in, swinging a set of keys around his fingers as he moved ever closer. The three jumped to their feet, Ace and Sabo moving in front of Luffy protectively.

"Who would want to do your stupid tests?!" Ace snarled. Haru ignored him, looking at his clipboard.

"It seems 11097 is up first!" Haru's voice was almost too cheerful as Ace and Sabo glanced at their wrists, seeing that it wasn't their number. They turned to Luffy with wide eyes, the youngest watching back with equally large eyes, tears of fear already starting to form. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't know where he was, he didn't know anything, but he did know that he did not want to go anywhere near the man that called himself a doctor. Ace and Sabo spun back to Haru, ready to defend their brother, but they couldn't do anything when there were needles jabbed into their arms.

"What the... hell?!" Ace asked, falling to his knees, brows furrowing in confusion. He couldn't move. He turned, seeing Sabo fall as well. Haru walked passed them, moving to grab Luffy who began scooting away in fear.

"G-Go away! Ace?! Sabo?! Help! Don't let him take me!" Luffy cried out, the tears falling hard and fast as he soon backed himself into a corner.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted simultaneously, wishing they could help. Their hearts broke at the sight of Luffy as terrified as he was.

"Come now 11097, we have lots to do," Haru said, a slight edge to his voice as he reached for Luffy, picking him up effortlessly. The straw hat fell off the boys head and slowly fell to the ground.

"No! Let me go! Let me go! Ace! Sabo!" Luffy shouted as Haru carried him out of the cell.

"Luffy!" It was useless for the boys to even try anything. No matter how hard they struggled to move their limbs wouldn't respond.

"Damnit! DAMNIT!" Ace shouted in fury, falling completely to the ground. Sabo watched, mouth agape as his little brother disappeared out of the cell, his screams reaching them even after they couldn't see him.

"What are we gonna do? We have to get him back! Those bastards can't just take him like that!" Ace continued to shout, drawing Sabo's attention back to him.

"W-we were given some sort of drug that paralyzed us. Ace, there's nothing we can do until it wears off." Sabo said sadly, feeling horrible.

"Well, I'm tired of not being able to do anything! They just took Luffy goddamnit! Screw waiting, screw hoping that shitty gramps finds us! We have to get Luffy and get out of here!" The shouts only got louder as Ace continued talking. Sabo swallowed, nodding his agreement. They both felt horrible after witnessing Haru take Luffy with little to no effort. They had only sat there and watched as their brother cried for their help.

"I know, I agree with you Ace, we'll get him back and we'll get out," Sabo said, determined. Ace seemed ready to say more but stopped, eyes gleaming and frown permanent as he turned, glaring at the cell.

_**/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy's shouts echoed around him as he was once again carried off to an unknown destination. They were about halfway down the hall when a door appeared on their right and Haru turned, opening it and blinding Luffy with how bright it was inside. Squirming and doing his best to get out of the ' _doctors_ ' grip did nothing as they moved into the room. It was all too bright and the walls and floor were too white. The combination gave Luffy a headache and there was a smell that surrounded him that made it worse. It was almost too sterile in the room and it reeked of medicines and rubbing alcohol.

As Luffy's eyes adjusted he saw that the room was big and open, machines filling almost every inch of space that they could. Along one wall there were three tanks that were transparent, showing the water that filled the tank. Next to the tanks was a row of chairs with straps on the arms and legs of it, and next to those there was a wheelie table with random shiny things Luffy couldn't identify. In the middle of the room, there were metal tables, also equipped with straps, and more wheelie carts and lights that could be pulled closer from the ceiling. The opposite wall had machines that Luffy would probably never know what they did.

"Welcome to the lab 11097! You better get used to it because this is the only room you'll be seeing for a long while." Haru said sinisterly, sending a shiver through Luffy as more tears pooled into his eyes. He was carried over to the chairs where he was immediately strapped down, more people coming into the room wearing the same white doctor's coat as Haru.

"Preparations are ready." One of the voices said. Luffys mind was in overdrive, the fear and adrenaline making him jittery as he struggled against his binds.

"Perfect, we shall begin immediately! I need blood drawn first before we can move on to any testing. I wonder where we should start?" Haru mused as someone moved to Luffy, hooking him up to tubes and wires. Someone else came over as well, drawing blood before leaving the room completely.

"I think we shall begin with the pain tolerance for a boy with a rubber body."

Luffy didn't know if minutes passed, hours, or even days. However long he was in that room for, though, was nothing but absolute hell. Voices mingled, needles poked into his skin, lights shone brightly in his face, and all the meanwhile Haru stayed cheery, maybe even more so than when they started.

"These results are absolutely perfect! Quick, onto the next test! Let's find out how far a rubber body can stretch before it can't anymore!" That one was the worse. Hands pulled at his arms, tugging and stretching the limb as much as they could, Luffy too weak to even form a fist with all the drugs he had been given. He knew when he had reached the limit but the doctors didn't stop pulling, tugging Luffy's body with them. Within seconds the skin started tearing, blood beginning to rise to the surface. The doctors let go, moving out of the way as the limb began flailing around, retracting back to normal length.

"Amazing! At its limit, the skin begins tearing! And it's like a spring! The potential energy forming proves to be quite disastrous when released!" Haru announced, scribbling notes down. Luffy stared at the ceiling, panting heavily from exertion.

"Next! Move him to the table! If its true that everything is rubber then that means that even everything inside is as well! Organs, blood vessels, maybe even nerves!"

_**/\/\/\/\/\** _

Ace wished they at least had a clock in this damn cell. He was tired of guessing how much time had passed and he was tired of just lying on the ground doing nothing.

"Hey, I think I feel my arm!" Sabo suddenly said. Ace lifted his head.

"Really? I don't feel anything!" Ace whined as he watched Sabo start wiggling his fingers.

"Maybe mine was weaker than yours or something? Or maybe they gave you more." Sabo said, still focused on his arm as he slowly moved the entire arm, shoulder and all.

"My other arm too! It's wearing off!" Sabo said, elated. Ace was about to whine some more when his arm suddenly tingled.

"Hey, I think mine is too!" Ace said happily, wiggling his fingers like Sabo had. Over ten minutes the two slowly began moving their limbs again, one by one, until they were standing and moving like they used to.

"Alright, now we just need to get out of-" Ace was cut off by Sabo slapping a hand over his mouth, confusing Ace. He shouted behind the hand but it came out muffled as Sabo shushed him.

"I think I hear footsteps," Sabo said, moving to the bars. Ace followed, hoping it was Luffy. It was hard to identify the many sounds surrounding them and even harder to just focus on just one, but they did their best, and after a few seconds Ace heard it too. Definitely footsteps. The two watched with hope, praying their brother would be ok.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted, relief filling them as Haru came into view, the small boy stumbling beside him. The eldest brothers didn't bother hiding their joy or relief at seeing Luffy, moving to the cell door as they waited impatiently for them to finally reach the cell. Eventually, they reached it, Haru opening the door and Luffy stumbling in, collapsing as he passed the threshold of the cell, the door slamming and locking shut behind him as Haru left.

"Normal testing resumes tomorrow! All subjects get ready for a day of fun!" Haru's voice echoed through the halls but the brothers could care less as Ace and Sabo ran to Luffy, hugging him tightly. A groan of pain left Luffy's mouth, causing the two to pull away quickly.

"Are you ok Luffy? What happened?" Sabo asked, worried and scared. The youngest was panting heavily, eyes barely opened as if it was too much effort to even try.

"Oi, Lu, you ok?" Ace asked, trying to mask his concern but not succeeding very well, his face giving it away.

"It hurts..." Luffy moaned out, laying on his back. Sabo hesitated before examining Luffy. He noticed bandages peeking out of his shirt and lifted it slightly revealing his stomach which was completely wrapped in bandages, not a single piece of skin showing. There even looked to be bruises on his skin, which was odd seeing as Luffy shouldn't be affected by blunt objects to get bruises in the first place. His arms were also littered in red spots that Sabo recognized were marks from being poked with a needle, having one on his own arm from the shot Haru had given him and Ace.

"Luffy..." Sabo uttered in shock, eyes wide. Ace was just as shocked, though it quickly turned to anger, as usual, the freckled boy clenching his fists tightly to try and control himself.

"It hurts Sabo... I don' wanna go back!" Luffy cried, tears falling. Sabo was at a loss. Pulling Luffys shirt back down Sabo smoothed his brother's hair back, sweat covering the youngest's forehead.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll get out of here." The words were spoken in a soft tone while Luffy continued to cry for a while before drifting off to sleep.

"Ace..." Sabo said quietly, not moving his eyes from Luffy.

"Those goddamn, good for nothing bastards!" Ace growled out, obviously wanting to be louder but not daring to risk waking Luffy up. Sabo didn't know how to reply, still trying to get over his own shock and anger. The two sat in silence, all their attention on Luffy and doing their best to make him as comfortable as possible. Neither of the boys wanted to speak, but the horrifying sounds coming from everyone else trapped in their own cells only proved to make Ace and Sabo's skin crawl. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore.

"What now?!" Sabo jumped in surprise at Aces sudden, loud, exclamation.

"We... we get out..." Sabo said softly. Aces eyes narrowed.

"How? You always got those plans of yours." Ace said, deciding that they would probably need one to get out. As much as he wanted to use brute force and run out it probably wouldn't be that easy.

"Well... we don't know what anything looks like, or even the layout of the building. I think we're in a basement so we would also have to find some stairs. Luffy might know a way out though. Maybe they took him through some different rooms, he could have seen some stairs on the way there." Sabo said, trying to think clearly.

"And if we know where the stairs are the next step would be finding the door out of here. It would be nice if we had a map but I don't know where we'd get one of those. Not to mention the fact that we'd have to find a way to get out of our cell first, and then we'd also need more strength to fight against anyone after us, which would probably be everyone in this building." Sabo continued. Ace groaned.

"Stop talking, I regret asking for a plan. Mines better after all." Ace grumbled. All the steps and situations Sabo made up in his plan made it seem harder then it should be.

"Oh yeah, what's your grand plan?" Sabo asked, already having a feeling he knew what it was. Ace grinned maliciously.

"Easy! Bust the cell door down and run outta here!" Ace said. Sabo sighed, shaking his head.

"I think you're purposely forgetting the part where a ton of grown adults swarm us. Not to mention, we have Luffy to worry about! And your plan also doesn't take into account the fact that we still need to find the stairs and the door out of here." Sabo pointed out, looking pointedly at Ace who pouted.

"I didn't forget! Its called being opto-... opti... optamiric? No that wasn't it... opterelic? No-"

"Optimistic, Ace. The word is optimistic." Sabo informed Ace with a sigh. Ace scowled.

"Whatever! That's what I am!" Ace said defiantly, causing Sabo to scoff.

"Ace, you're the complete opposite of an optimist! You're the exact definition of a pessimist!" Sabo laughed out, Aces scowl only deepening.

"Who cares if I'm pestimidic-"

"Pessimistic!"

"Whatever! You know what, fine! We'll go with your stupid plan!" Ace shouted, crossing his arms. He was done with the conversation and never wanted to hear the words optimistic or pessimistic ever again. Sabo continued to laugh for a few more seconds before calming down, clearing his throat.

"Anyways, if we are going with my plan then we should really try and find a map somewhere if we can," Sabo said. Ace nodded, showing he understood.

"Maybe one of the people around here have one, but that's a stretch. If worse comes to worse we're just gonna have to run around blindly." Sabo said, really hoping it didn't come to that.

"What about-" Ace stopped talking, confusing Sabo until he heard the sound of the food cart rolling down the hall.

"We can talk later, though we should be careful, if the people here hear about our plan they could stop us," Sabo said in a whisper. Ace nodded his agreement to the statement.

"What should we do?" Ace asked. Sabo thought for a moment, the rolling cart getting closer.

"Hmm... we could talk in another language," Sabo said offhandedly. Ace gave him a look.

"I barely know how to speak this language, now you want me to talk in another? We're not all bookworms Sabo." Ace said.

"I don't know any other languages either! I meant we could make up a language, like sign language! We stay silent but we can understand each other through different signals. You know, like this," Sabo said, demonstrating. He scratched his left ear while Ace gave him a confused look.

"Could mean something like, someone's listening. Scratching our right ear could mean that we hear something or someone. Stuff like that." Sabo said. Ace was about to retort that it would be too difficult to understand and annoying to make up, but thought better of it, nodding instead.

"Yeah, ok." He said with a sigh, the rolling cart coming up to their cell. Ace was about to look at the person serving their food when he saw Sabo scratch his left ear. Ace scoffed, flicking Sabo's forehead.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Sabo asked though he was smiling. Their food slid into their cell and the rolling cart went back down the hall while Ace rolled his eyes, grabbing the food.

"That means, ' _You're an idiot._ '" Ace said, handing Sabo his bowl and moving Luffys toward the sleeping child. Sabo laughed lightly, turning to look at Luffy.

"Hey, Lu, time to eat," Sabo said, his voice turning soft and gentle. Ace watched with a slight concern showing but hid it with his disgust as he ate his soup. A groan came from Luffy as he blinked his eyes open, looking around in confusion.

"M'tired..." Luffy mumbled, closing his eyes again. Sabo shook him lightly.

"You can sleep in a minute Lu, you have to eat first," Sabo said. Luffy was silent, but nodded, moving to sit up before wincing.

"I still hurt," Luffy whined quietly. The middle brother nodded, helping Luffy sit against the concrete wall.

"I know, you can lay back down soon. Come on, I'll help you." Sabo said, helping spoon the food into Luffy's mouth, the youngest grimacing at the taste. Ace watched, his anger rising towards the ' _doctors_ ' that did this to his youngest brother. He gripped his own spoon tightly, eating almost automatically.

"Hey Lu, we came up with this cool idea so that we can talk without saying anything!" Sabo suddenly said, his voice a little louder, but not much. Luffy peered at Sabo, confusion on his face.

"How can you talk without talking?" Luffy asked dumbly. Sabo laughed.

"Well, there's this thing called sign language where you use different signals to communicate with others. Ace and I were coming up with some, right Ace?" Ace looked up in shock, Sabo breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Wha-? I mean... yeah." Ace said face set back into disgust due to the soup.

"Cool!" Luffy said, though there wasn't as much enthusiasm behind the word as there used to be. The youngest did have a smile on his face though so Ace sighed.

"Yeah, Sabo made up some moves, like this, meaning someone's listening." Ace said, scratching his left ear. Luffy nodded as if he understood and Ace wondered if he really did. Suddenly Aces face brightened.

"This is my favorite though, I made it up. It means, ' _You're an idiot._ '" Ace said, Sabo already glaring at him, but Ace ignored it, flicking Sabos forehead again, causing the blonde to pout while Luffy laughed.

"We still have to make up a lot more motions though so we can have full conversations with each other without talking," Sabo said after getting over the flick. Luffy nodded, finishing the last bite of his soup and yawning.

"Alright, time to go back to sleep Lu," Sabo said, helping Luffy lay back down.

"Mm. Night Ace, night Sabo." Luffy mumbled tiredly.

"Night Lu." The brothers chorused. Luffy fell asleep almost immediately as Sabo reached to pick his own bowl up, grimacing at the taste and sticking out his tongue.

"Seriously, do you think they're trying to poison us with this?" Sabo asked. Ace merely shrugged, having finished his.

"Who knows, those bastards probably get a kick out of it"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Quick note, I don't really like reading, or writing for that matter, OC's so there won't be many of them in this story, but there will be just a handful of them. They won't be major characters, and they won't be all that important, mostly just no name background characters, or named characters that only show up for a chapter or two. Of course, there are exceptions to everything and Haru is one of them. He's one of the most important villain characters in this story, but I won't ever focus too much on him by doing something like writing in his perspective. He will always just be mentioned from other people's perspective. He will have a knack for being mentioned quite often though, whether he's around or not, so I hope you all don't mind!


	4. Life Inside, Life Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Blah, blah, blah'= Talking in sign language
> 
> "Blah, blah, blah"= Talking normally

The brothers spent their morning eating breakfast and talking. The two had asked Luffy where he had been taken and what happened but Luffy had gone distant, not saying much except that it was a really white room and he really hurt. They didn't ask anymore after that and instead started creating new signs for their sign language, Luffy finding it enjoyable which encouraged Ace and Sabo to continue doing it. Luffy seemed to be feeling a little better today, though was still sore and aching in some places, barely able to sit up comfortably.

"Oh! And this could mean, 'You stink!'" Luffy said, scrunching his nose up as Sabo laughed and Ace reprimanded Luffy.

"Why would we need a sign like that dummy?!" Ace asked. Luffy pouted.

"Because you smell," Luffy said bluntly. Ace flushed and sputtered while Sabo laughed louder, knowing it was true. The three hadn't been able to take a bath in a month so they were all smelling riper than normal.

"W-Well... So do you!" Ace shouted back defensively. Luffy pouted, crossing his arms.

"Do not!" Before a fight could break out Sabo calmed himself down, planning on being the mediator.

"Now now-"

"Do to! We all smell! Even Sabo!" Ace said.

"Hey!" Sabo said, an offended look on his face, even though he knew it was true.

"Ace is a meanie," Luffy muttered, causing Ace to scowl. Footsteps sounded in the hall and the brothers were amazed they even heard them. It was pure luck that they almost always heard footsteps when the sounds of pain coming from the others in cells was loud and overwhelming. It was never silent in the hall.

"Who's ready for some tests?" A voice asked cheerily from down the hall. It still sounded far away but the sound of a cell opening and someone screaming and crying was loud and clear. Luffy shivered beside his brothers and the two stood up defensively. They had watched Luffy go last time without being able to fight. This time they were going to be prepared. The sound of cells opening and people screaming continued to echo throughout the hall, gradually getting closer.

"11023, 11059, 11004." It was Haru's voice reading off numbers, sending chills down the brothers' spines.

"11080, 1104- Oh, seems we need to send 11049 out," Haru said, coming into view of their cell and looking at the one across from them, 11049's cell, the one who had talked to them their first day there. Sabo paled, having assumed the person there had died that day, and when he heard nothing from that cell since he assumed he had been correct.

A doctor- Sabo found it was easiest to just call everyone there doctors, whether they were ones or not- went into the cell and Ace and Sabo watched as he pulled out a body that was definitely no longer alive.

They had no hair and there were bruises and cuts littering the small person's entire body. They looked like they were older than Sabo and Ace, but not by much. Ace shifted his stance to completely block the body from Luffy's sight. They both turned green at the sight, but also the thought that the poor person had been rotting in that cell for at least a day and no one had noticed.

"Now, back on task. Seeing as there is now an extra opening, 11097, 11062, and 11085, it seems you're all up for tests today!" Haru said in his normal, cheery voice. Ace growled at the man as two other doctors came in, grabbing Ace and Sabo despite them doing their best to fight back. Turns out, they were a lot weaker than they thought due to lack of proper food and training. Haru came in as well, grabbing Luffy who was much too weak to even struggle.

"Let us go! Bastards!" Ace shouted, being pulled out of the cell and down the hall. Sabo was pulled out behind him and, though he struggled, he spent more time looking at his surroundings. He saw the end of the hallway now, cells lining the entire two sides of the hallway. There seemed to be about 20 cells, 10 on each side, and at the very end of the hall on the left, there was a space next to the last cell. Sabo assumed it was a door and made a mental note of it in his head, turning to focus on the right side. There was the same amount of cells, but instead of the extra space next to the last cell, there was an extra space in the middle, about 5 cells in. Sabo could clearly see a door here as well as they got closer and realized that that was where they were headed.

All the doctors had a person in their hand, each with their own numbered tattoo. They were all being taken into the room in a line, those who were still in their cells cowering in the corners. Eventually Ace was taken into the room, still struggling and arguing, and then Sabo. Glancing behind him he saw Luffy watching in terror, though he wasn't crying or screaming this time. There was a resigned look in his eyes and Sabo hated it. Finally, all three brothers were in the room, the last ones in, and they were all taken to chairs with straps on them and strapped down.

"Where the hell are we?! What's going on?!" Ace shouted, not getting the hint that no one was going to answer him. The doctors were all huddled together, talking and showing each other their clipboards. Sabo looked at the others in the chairs and noticed that all the... test subjects? It felt wrong to call them that. Victims? Close enough. He noticed that all the victims were young, the oldest looking to be 13 at most. They all had their heads down, silent, and Sabo felt uneasy by the zombie-like manner that they held themselves with.

"Ace, shut up," Sabo whispered, trying to get his brother to stop talking. It wasn't doing them any good if they weren't getting answered, and the most it would do was draw attention to themselves. Ace turned to argue with Ace but Sabo narrowed his eyes. Sign language or not, Ace knew that meant to listen, so he did, but not before grumbling to himself. Sabo tapped his index finger rapidly on the arm of the chair he was strapped to a few times before stopping, Ace watching intently as he got the hint.

'Calm down.'

Ace nearly scoffed, lifting his middle finger slightly higher than the rest of his fingers, turning a smirk to Sabo.

'Like hell.'

Sabo rolled his eyes, turning to look at Luffy and was unnerved to see that he was in the same pose as all the other kids, not even looking towards him or Ace.

"Lu-"

"Let's begin shall we?" Suddenly all of the doctors in the room were advancing on them, each one going to a different child, because that's what they all were, children. Ace and Sabo watched as Haru moved towards Luffy, but before they could do anything- not that they really could do anything anyways- they got distracted by their own doctors advancing towards them, poking needles into their arms. Ace was arguing with his but getting no response, and Sabo was trying to find a way to get out of the restraints, having no such luck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haru pulling Luffys cheek, watching it stretch before letting it go and watching it snap back into place, Luffy not even flinching.

Again, he was distracted by another needle being poked into his skin, noticing briefly that at some point they had drawn his and Aces blood, two doctors coming to take the blood-filled bags away. Now, though, the doctor was injecting a strange blue liquid into Sabo's arm, and he had a feeling it was not going to make him feel better.

It continued on this way, all of the children getting injected with weird serums, some screaming in pain from their injection, some falling asleep, others going almost rabid, struggling furiously against their restraints, growling and snarling. Sabo was having a streak of bad luck with his injections, all causing him various amounts of pain. Aces injections had all been knocking him unconscious, his doctor giving him smelling salts to wake him back up, only to repeat the process by injecting him with yet another needle. Luffy wasn't getting as many injections as the rest, and Sabo figured it was because he had a devil fruit. Haru seemed much more interested in exploring the different properties of Luffy's abilities and if he did inject Luffy with something it would, in one way or another, affect his brothers' fruit.

"Clear a table!" Haru announced to some of the helpers in the room, nurses. One of them nodded, heading to one of the many metal tables in the room and clearing any bottles or needles from it, opening the restraints. Sabo, through his pain, turned to watch Haru unstrap Luffy from his chair, carrying him over to the table and strapping him down once more. Sabo hated the helplessness as he watched Luffy lay motionlessly on the table, staring at the ceiling. Haru pulled a light down from the ceiling and cut off Luffy's shirt, throwing the scraps to the side and unwrapping the bandages. Sabo was sure that if Ace were awake long enough he would be yelling at Haru, but as it stood now his brother was barely up more than a minute before passing out again.

"Amazing! There's absolutely no trace of a wound! Not even a scar! The rubber material of his body merely mended back together!" Haru said in amazement, and Sabo wanted to yell at the man who was continuously hurting his brother, but another injection only had him crying out in pain.

"I wonder if the same would happen to a burn mark! Would it mend over or leave unhealed scar tissue?" Haru asked, the nurse running off and grabbing something.

Time passed, testing continued, and everything was pure torture. Eventually, one by one, the children were all unstrapped and sent back to their cells, Doctors chattering to each other about all the, "Amazing test results!". Sabo, Ace, and Luffy were the last three to leave, Sabo first, Ace second, and then finally Luffy. Throughout the entire session, Ace had continuously been put to sleep while Sabo was put through pain, physically and emotionally. Ace hadn't been awake to see what happened to Luffy, and Sabo was immensely grateful that he hadn't been. It was horrible to watch, especially when Haru continued to smile sickeningly at the different results of Luffy's tests.

Sabo was just happy to be laying down on the hard, cold ground of their cell. Ace was groggy, though awake, beside him, groaning and trying to sit up, though he was disoriented.

"God damn bas'ards!" Ace slurred out, holding his head. Sabo didn't even look his way. Though he was concerned for his brother, he just didn't have the energy to move.

"Oi, Sab', you ok?" Ace asked. Sabo could only groan in response, closing his eyes. Ace looked at Luffy and saw that the boy was much the same as he had been the first time he'd come back from testing.

"What happened?" Ace asked, only to realize quickly that both of his brothers were sleeping. His lips thinned to a line as he thought about what could have happened. He hadn't been awake much in there, and the bits he was awake for weren't comforting. He could remember hearing his brothers screams, see Luffy on a table being stretched, see needles poking into Sabo's arms, but every time he was about to get a clear view on things he was knocked out again. It frustrated the freckled boy at how little control he had over anything in this place.

The sound of the food cart coming made Aces stomach turn. He was hungry, sure, hungrier than normal even, but the thought of that green garbage in a bowl almost made Ace want to skip eating for once in his life. Almost.

"Dinner." A man said, the same man who always served them their meals. Ace took one of the bowls, bringing it to his lap and eating quickly. If it was dinner already that meant they had missed lunch, meaning it had been a good few hours in that stupid testing room. After finishing the vile soup in record time Ace shook Sabo awake, the blonde groaning but opening his eyes anyways.

"Wa's happenin'?" Sabo asked, looking around, wincing as he sat up.

"Dinner." Ace said, handing his brother the bowl and moving to wake Luffy up.

"Dinner? How long was I out?" Sabo asked, massaging his forehead, picking up the spoon and eating slowly.

"Only a few minutes. We were being tested on and missed lunch." Ace said, his words turning sour as he mentioned the fact that they had, in fact, been tested on. Ace was tired of feeling helpless over everything.

"Come on Lu, dinner, then sleep." Ace encouraged, lifting the boy up gently, resting his head in his lap. He normally wasn't this affectionate to his brothers, and he was definitely glad they were probably both too disoriented to even remember this later, but this was an exception. Ace helped slowly feed Luffy, the boy completely drained like last time. Sabo finished first and said a quick goodnight before passing out again. Ace sighed, hand holding the spoon tightly in unrestrained anger as he gave Luffy the last of the soup, setting Luffy gently back on the ground.

"I'm happy..." Ace heard Luffy mumble out, breathing out a sigh of what seemed to be relief, confusing him greatly.

"You're happy?!" Ace asked incredulously. They weren't exactly in a situation that afforded them any happiness.

"Mm," Luffy hummed, nodding his head.

"Why?! This place sucks!" Ace said, almost angry that Luffy could be so oblivious sometimes.

"Because I'm not alone! I hurt everywhere and I'm tired and cold, but I'm not alone! I've got Ace and Sabo with me, so I'm happy!" Luffy said, drifting off before Ace could reply. The freckled boy stared, mouth agape in wonder at his brothers' words. He knew of his brothers near phobia of being alone, claiming it was worse than being dead, but how could he still find happiness like that in a place like this?

Sometimes Ace wished he could be like Luffy. The boy always seemed to be happy, despite his circumstances, and when Ace thought about it, being happy by even the smallest things was better than being angry at everything.

He was still going to be angry though because he was not Luffy. He was Luffy's older brother. He was Sabos older brother. He was supposed to protect them, and so far he was doing a piss poor job at it. They were kidnapped, kept on a tiny boat, now locked in a cage, being tested on, and barely being fed edible food. He had done nothing to prevent it and done nothing so far to try and get them out.

Even now, as he looked at his sleeping brothers, shivering on the ground from how cold the cell was. Ace frowned as he took the sight in before nodding, determined. He shuffled in between the two, pulling Sabo close to him and resting the blondes head on his chest, wrapping his right arm around him to try and warm him up, doing the same to Luffy, pulling him close so they could warm each other up with their body heat.

Ace couldn't do much in the way of getting them out, or planning, or thinking, or anything like that, but he could try and make them as comfortable as possible until they were freed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, in a little village filled with windmills, there was a man sitting in an empty bar, drinking heavily.

"Garp-san, I don't think you should be drinking this much." A green haired barmaid said politely, concern laced in her voice as she watched the man down another drink, demanding another.

"Bah! I deserve it!" The marine bellowed somberly. The barmaid sighed.

"Please Garp-san, its only been a month, I'm sure we'll find them, you always do after all." She said with a small smile. Garp remained silent, staring into his empty mug.

"Ah, I guess your right Makino, you always are," Garp says softly, closing his eyes.

"Mind if I have a bottle, I'm sure that old bandit would like the treat," Garp said. Makino nodded.

"Of course." She said, rushing off, grabbing a good bottle of sake and handing it to the marine.

"Give Dadan my regards, she's taken all of this pretty hard despite her trying not to show it," Makino said with half a smile, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. Garp nodded, taking the bottle and leaving the bar, heading to the mountain bandits hut. It took some time but he eventually reached the hut, heading straight inside without knocking.

"Who dares enter- Oh, Garp-san!" A bandit said in fear once realizing who it was.

"Garp." Dadan addressed somberly, stuffing a tissue into her pocket. Garp nodded to her, tossing her the sake, which she caught.

"Brought you that. Makino sends her regards." Garp said, sitting on the floor. Dadan sighed.

"That girl. Well, I can't pass up good sake." She said, pouring some for herself, ready to pour some for Garp as well until he waved her off.

"I've already had some of my own." He said. She nodded mutely, setting the bottle down and chugging her drink.

"So... nothing new?" Dadan asked, already knowing the answer. Garp shook his head.

"I've had my men search the whole of the East Blue, and the South Blue. All that's left is the North Blue and the West Blue, and if they aren't there they're in Paradise or the New World. If that's the case it could take decades to search every island for them." Garp said sadly. Dadan nodded.

"My good for nothing brat is even out looking. From what I've heard the revolutionaries have been spotted on islands all over the New World and Paradise, but even he hasn't found anything." Garp continued, closing his eyes.

"Damn it... if only we had been a little faster," Dadan growled, remembering the day they had been partying without a care, until they heard Luffy's scream, shouting for Dadan. They had rushed out, the surprise of one of the boys actually calling for them shocking them enough to move as fast as they could, but as they chased what they assumed to be a person holding their brat they lost him, only to find a ship leaving the shore shortly after. Dadan, despite the fear, called Garp, telling him what had happened, and the man immediately went on a rampage, searching the whole East Blue within days, having his marines span the whole Blue in search of his grandsons.

"Don't blame yourself, besides, we both wronged them. If I hadn't spent so much time away I might have been here to keep them safe. That's all I ever wanted, was to keep them safe." Garp said, tears forming in his eyes. Everyone in the hut began crying, mourning over their lost brats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> I don't really have any notes for this chapter, but we're finally seeing Ace warm up a bit, even if it is when no ones awake to notice. It won't be a drastic change, not like how he was when he met Luffy in Alabasta, but it will be marginally better after everything they've gone through now. After all, it did take Sabo dying and Luffy nearly dying as well for Ace to finally become the nice caring brother that he became in cannon and I want to be sure to keep that in mind as I'm writing. I don't think it would make sense cannon-wise if Ace was just suddenly nice after this and I want to stay true to Ace's character.


	5. Mikans and Chalk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo-11
> 
> Luffy-8

A year had passed almost too quickly for the three brothers, every day being a new, and worse, hell then the last. The doctors found the three to be their favorite test subjects, wich was unfortunate for them because it meant they were tested on constantly. The doctors also seemed to be amazed that the boys had survived that long, causing Ace and Sabo to remember the conversation they had with 11049 all that time ago, saying they wouldn't live past 3 weeks max.

They had fallen into a routine. Eat breakfast, hang out for an hour, then go for testing, which lasted until dinner. Eat dinner, go to sleep. It was an easy, simple routine, but they were rarely given any breaks from testing. When they were it was only because they were too injured and the doctors didn't want to risk killing one of their prized subjects, so they would get a day off. Those days were both a blessing and a curse. Sure, they got out of that horrible lab for a day, but that meant they had to sit in the cell alone, wondering what was happening to their brothers who were still being tested on.

They had also seen many test subjects come and go over time. Even though they seemed to be outliers and survived a year, everyone else lasted the usual 2-3 weeks before they passed away. The brothers had opted to ignore everyone else in the facility, because what was the point of recognizing a face that would be gone in a few weeks, or even days?

It was breakfast time.

The sound of the rolling cart coming their way woke Ace up, having gotten good at listening for it in the morning. Ever since that night a year ago the brothers had gotten accustomed to sleeping close together, Ace in the middle with Sabo on his right and Luffy on his left, the two resting their heads on his chest.

"Hey, breakfast," Ace announced, shaking his brothers who woke relatively quickly. They were all light sleepers after more than a few incidents where Haru or another random doctor would come in and drag one of them off for early testing. The brothers went closer to the bars, waiting for the usual man to come serve them food, but were surprised to see a woman doing it this time. It had always been the same guy before, so who was this new person?

Luffy caught his brothers' attention by doing a quiet snap, more of just the sound of his fingers rubbing together than an actual snap. Luffy scrunched his nose, tilting his head at the same time.

'Where's the smelly guy?'

Over the year the three had gotten proficient in speaking purely through their made-up sign language, even if there was no one listening to them. Sabo shrugged subtly, wiggling his fingers.

'I don't know, fired?'

They turned their attention back to the woman who was reaching their cell. She gave food to the cell across from them where, this week, there was a small girl around six in there, terrified. The woman then turned to them, hesitating a moment as she looked at them before smiling gently at them, only furthering their confusion.

"So, I'm assuming you three are the famous trio then, hm?" She asked, getting no response other than a glare from Ace and Sabo shifting Luffy slightly more behind the two older brothers.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on hurting you three. Here, breakfast!" She said, pushing their bowls in for them, though it was the same unappetizing slop as usual. Even the woman grimaced at it.

"Is that stuff as bad as it looks? I snagged these, but I could only grab two, sorry." She said, pulling two mikans from her coat pocket, the same doctors coat everyone else in the facility wore. She handed the fruit to Ace who took them hesitantly, eyeing the woman suspiciously. What was she playing at? No one here was nice to them, so why was she? Though his mouth drooled at the sight of actual, sweet, food, he didn't dare eat it, fearing it might be a new elaborate test the doctors were putting them through. He looked at Sabo who gave him a confused look as well before they both turned to look at the woman.

"Don't worry, they're just normal mikans. Go on, if rumors are true and you've been here a year then that should be a little treat, right?" She asked. They still didn't say anything but Luffy, who had been watching the woman intensely, rubbed his fingers together again, getting his brothers attention once more. He smiled brightly at them, nodding his head ever so slightly.

'Good.'

Ace gave him a pointed look, tilting his head.

'You sure?'

Luffy nodded again and Ace and Sabo gave the woman one more glance. Luffy hadn't felt comfortable around any of the doctors in this facility, so the fact he felt that this woman was good meant there was a high probability that she was. Ace looked at the two mikans, tossing one to Luffy and splitting the other for him and Sabo. The three looked at the fruit, almost not wanting to eat it.

"Go on! They're good, I promise." The woman said with a smile that gave them all a slightly nostalgic feeling, remembering Makino. Ace peeled a piece of the fruit off, popping it in his mouth and almost tearing up at how amazing the taste was. He ate the piece greedily, peeling another one off and eating it. Sabo and Luffy followed his lead, both enjoying the amazing taste as well.

"See? Good, huh? My names Emily, pleased to meet you three!" She greeted happily, smiling again. Luffy smiled brightly at her, waving as he ate the fruit.

"I would love to stay and chat some more but I should leave before they notice anything. Here, I also brought this, after all, it must be pretty boring in there, huh?" She asked, rolling a few sticks of chalk into the cell. Luffys smile only brightened, having drawn in all the dust by now to the point that there was no more left to coat the floor.

"Bye, see you three later!" Emily said, waving as she pushed the cart back down the hall.

"What was that all about?" Ace asked, eating his soup, though he left a piece of fruit for after he finished.

"Who knows. Another test?" Sabo asked. Ace shrugged.

"She was nice! I liked her!" Luffy said, eating his soup quickly and moving to finish his fruit.

"Yeah, but why was she nice? She works in a place where they do experiments on children. Does she not know that?" Ace asked with a growl.

"No, she knew about us, she knows about what they do here. There's no use in worrying about it now though, so let's just wait for the doctors." Sabo said.

"Oh! Can we play tic-tac-toe?!" Luffy asked happily, thinking of all the games they could play now that they had chalk. Sabo smiled.

"Sure, and since you two are getting better at reading we can try playing some hangman too," Sabo said. Ace and Luffy gave him a confused look.

"Hangman? What's that?" Ace asked. Sabo laughed, taking a piece of chalk.

"I'll teach you later, you watch for any doctors," Sabo said, sitting in the corner with Luffy as the boy started drawing the grid. Ace grumbled but went to the bars anyways, looking out. The three played tic-tac-toe for a little bit, letting Luffy win. After each round, Sabo and Ace would switch spots, one playing, one on the lookout. After a few rounds, Sabo explained how to play hangman and Ace and Luffy agreed on trying it out, Sabo and Luffy going first.

"Alright Lu, this ones got 4 letters, ok?" Sabo asked. Luffy nodded, a determined look on his face.

"Mmm... O!" Luffy announced, Sabo smiling as he drew an O on the ground in the second to last spot.

"Yes! Ace, look! I did it, I got a letter!" Luffy cheered happily. Ace rolled his eyes but was internally happy that his baby brother was happy.

"Good job Lu." He said, Luffy beaming at the praise.

"Next letter?" Sabo asked, also happy with how elated Luffy was.

"N!" Sabo made a buzzing noise, drawing a head. Luffy pouted, though became more determined.

"D!" Sabo nodded, writing the letter D in the first spot.

"Umm... S?" Luffy asked, trying to come up with words. Sabo buzzed again, drawing a line for the body.

"Aww! P?!" Luffy asked, determined to win. Sabo smiled, making a ding noise and writing a P in the last slot.

"Oh! Oh! Is it Drop?!" Luffy asked. Sabo made more dinging noises, filling in the last letter and clapping.

"Good job Lu!" Sabo said as Luffy cheered happily. Even Ace was clapping a little for Luffy.

"Aces turn!" Luffy said cheerfully, taking Aces spot as the guard. Again, rounds continued this way, except Sabo stayed to make sure the words were actually spelled correctly. After some time and a few rounds, it was back to Luffys turn.

"7 letters! A little longer than the others." Sabo said, erasing the previous round where Ace guessed the word Travel. Luffy nodded, ready to win.

"R!" Luffy said, eyes narrowed. Sabo nodded, writing in the letter R.

"S!" Sabo buzzed, only making Luffy more determined, an intense look in his eye.

"P!" Another buzz.

"F!" Sabo dinged, the first letter being an F.

"U?" Luffy asked, unsure. Sabo buzzed and Luffy frowned.

"M!" He said, wanting to win. Sabo dinged, the last letter being an M.

"O-" The game was cut off when Ace snapped twice, the signal someone was coming. Sabo quickly erased any trace of the chalk being on the ground, hiding the sticks behind the toilet. Luffy frowned, sad that the game had been abruptly ended. Sabo snapped at him and he turned, seeing Sabo showing him his hands. Luffy lifted his own, palms up, and Sabo quickly started rubbing of the chalk dust lingering on his fingers. It was just in time because the cell opened and their numbers were announced.

"11062, 11085, 11097." The three left the cell wordlessly, not even fighting back. Sabo glanced back at the cell, looking at the spot they had been playing in seconds ago.

The word had been freedom.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

" _Purupurupurupuru_ ," The snail rang in its usual monotonous voice.

" _Purupurupurupuru_ ," The left eye of the snail had three lines across it, scarring it.

"Hello?" The voice was light, carefree.

"What have I said about answering those when you don't know who they are?" A voice in the background said, chastising the one who answered.

"Ah, whatever!" The voice said, laughing.

"Anyways, who's this?" They asked.

"It's Garp." The marine answered with a tired sigh. The snail gave a confused look.

"Garp? Now, why are you calling me? Gonna come to visit?" Garp gave a breath that would once have been a bellow of laughter.

"Luffys missing." Confusion turned to shock, and then there was yelling.

" _Anchor?!_ Since when? What happened?!" Garp was wondering if he should really entrust this man with the information he was about to tell him. It wouldn't be the first time he corresponded with pirates, and his options were running out. It had been a year now that his grandsons went missing without a trace. He had searched all the blues and had moved on to Paradise and the New World, but there were so many islands it was nearly impossible to search them all.

"A year now. He and his brothers were kidnapped from Dawn Island without a trace." Garp informed. To hell with Sengoku and the Navy, this was his family. If he had to resort to pirates, he would.

"Kidnapped?! Wait, Luffy has brothers?" Garp smiled slightly, nodding.

"Yes, both older. I took in Ace before Luffy was born, had him live in the mountains. He made a friend named Sabo and the three soon became best friends. They called each other brothers." Garp reminisced, smiling at the memory.

"What do you need?" The tone was back to serious and Garp's smile fell.

"I've had my men search all the four blues and as much of Paradise and the New World that we could, but we've found no trace of them," Garp said, looking at the maps of different islands they'd searched.

"I can keep a lookout on the different islands we land on. I'll have a few go off to some other islands too." Garp sighed in relief, nodding.

"Thank you, Red Hair." Shanks' smile lit up on the snail.

"Nobody takes the little anchor and gets away with it."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Over the next few days, Emily continued to make appearances at the brothers' cell, bringing different goodies every time. Sometimes she brought candy, other times it would be more chalk, saying that she didn't want them to worry about the other sticks wearing down too much. She even snuck fruit sometimes, mostly mikans, but on rare occasions, she would bring a few apples for them to share.

The brothers warmed up to her quickly. She was just as nice as Makino and gave off a motherly vibe that they had only ever felt from the green-haired woman.

"You're nice Emily!" Luffy said on the fourth day of knowing her, shocking the woman seeing as they hadn't ever spoken to her. She got over the shock quickly, smiling to Luffy.

"Thank you Luffy, that's very nice of you to say!" She said happily, crouching down outside their cell.

"Why _are_ you so nice?" Ace asked suddenly, Luffy and Sabo glancing at their brother. Ace had an accusatory glare settled on her, and though the question shocked Emily, she smiled quickly again.

"Because being mean is... mean. I see no point in it." She said in a very Luffy-like manner.

"But... you do know what they do here, right?" Sabo asked. What those doctors did definitely constituted as mean. Emily sighed, nodding.

"Yes, I know exactly what they do, and it's not right. Not right at all!" She said with a frown. She took a deep breath, calming herself and smiling again.

"That's why I'm here to help. No one, especially not children, should be subject to horrors like this place." She said.

"What do you mean help?" Ace asked, skeptical. Another smile lit up Emily's face as she glanced down the hallway, leaning in closer to the cell and whispering.

"I mean help, as in help get you out of here." She said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and quickly sliding it in through the bars. Sabo picked it up, confused, and opened it, eyes widening in shock at what he saw.

"T-This is-" Sabo stopped himself, looking up at Emily in shock, Ace and Luffy giving him confused stares.

"Yes, it is. Keep it safe, and hidden, nobody can find that!" She said sternly.

"Why? What is it?" Ace asked, trying to lean in and look at it, but Sabo quickly folded it back up.

"Here, I brought tape. You can tape it to the bottom of your toilet." She said, ripping a piece off and handing it to Sabo who quickly scurried to the toilet, taping the paper to the underside of the tank.

"I have to go now! Good luck today!" Emily said, waving and pushing the food cart away with her. Ace spun to Sabo, wanting answers.

"What was it?!" He asks in a near shout. Sabo lifts a finger to his mouth sternly, shutting Ace up.

'A map.'

When Sabo signed the words Aces eyes widened in surprise, Luffy grinning stupidly, probably not really understanding how helpful the item was, but knowing it was a good thing.

'Really?!'

Sabo nodded at Aces sign, causing Ace to smile happily.

"11077, 11000, 11019!" The happiness was short lived. Back to testing.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"It seems to be Akagami"

"Are they a threat?"

"No, they want to talk."

"Send the others inside." The first mate nodded, following his Captains orders and sending most of the men onboard inside. Red Haired Shanks' ship came up beside theirs, the red-haired Captain himself standing near the railing.

"Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted." The select few watched as Shanks crossed over to their ship, sending a wave of Haki through the air. Shanks walked up to the Captain, a bottle of sake dragging behind him.

"What do you want brat?"

"I've got something I want to discuss with you. Brought some healing water too." Shanks said, lifting the sake with a smirk. There was silence, and then a laugh.

"Gurarararara! What is it you want to talk about then?" Shanks sighed, sitting down, cross-legged.

"Remember when I told you about the one I wagered my arm on?" Shanks asked, gripping his missing arm. The large man in front of him nodded. Shanks frowned.

"He's been kidnapped. Been gone for a year now." The tone in Shanks' voice was on edge. There was silence again, Shanks pouring drinks.

"How does this involve me, brat?" A sigh.

"Because, Whitebeard, you travel a lot. You've got a lot of crewmates, a lot of territories. All I'm asking is for you to keep an eye out for three kids." Whitebeard raised an eyebrow.

"Kids?" He hadn't known who Shanks had wagered his arm on, but he didn't expect it to be a child. Shanks nodded.

"I've already got my men on the lookout but we could use the extra eyes. It's Garps grandson, the damn anchor. He was such a smiley kid, wants to be a pirate and all!" Shanks said with a smile, remembering his time with Luffy. Whitebeard looked at the pirate, noticing the look in his eye.

"I'll have my men keep an eye out. What do they look like?" Whitebeard asked.

"Two of them are 11, that's Ace and Sabo, the oldest brothers. Luffys only 8, that's Garps grandson." Shanks started before going into full detail about the three.

"That was the description Garp gave me though, I've never met the two older ones." Shanks finished. Whitebeard nodded, sipping from his cup.

"I'll ask the islands under my protection if they've seen them," Whitebeard said, the conversation over now. Shanks nodded, standing and grabbing the empty bottle of sake.

"I'll be seeing you then, Whitebeard," Shanks said, walking back over to his ship.

"Gurarararara! See you brat!"


	6. One Step Forward, Fifty Steps Back

"Outside of this hallway this place is like a giant labyrinth!" Sabo mumbled to himself as Ace and Luffy peered over his shoulder, all looking at the map Emily had given them.

"That's correct. Everywhere outside of this hall is complete darkness. All of the staff here wear these lenses over our eyes to see. The doctors here know some really smart scientist who supplies them with all the new inventions and tests." Emily informed, lifting up a pair of glasses that looked normal enough.

"Then how are we supposed to get out?" Ace asked. Emily sighed.

"I'm still working on a solution to that problem. We only get one pair of these glasses. If we lose them we don't get replacements." Emily said, frowning slightly.

"But what are all these rooms?" Sabo asked, looking back down at the map. According to it, once they left this hall the rest of the basement was a condensed maze with doors leading to dead ends and curving hallways. There was only one way to get out of the maze and into the hall leading to the stairs, but a door leading off that hallway confused Sabo as it led to a giant room.

"Everything here," Emily began, pointing to the maze of halls.

"Is just empty hallways. Pitch black. That big room there is a lab. That's where they take the blood they've drawn and the test results." Emily explained. Sabo nodded.

"So, definitely don't go in there." He said, his brothers nodding their agreement.

"This is the only path out of the basement, so memorize it. If you lose your map you don't want to have to wander aimlessly and end up back here." Emily said sternly, the brothers nodding again.

"What about when we get upstairs?" Ace asked, seeing as they had no map for that part.

"That's the hard part. If they know you're escaping they'll send everyone they've got at you. Most of the guards are stationed upstairs so when you do get there it'll be almost overwhelming. The good news, though, is that all you have to do is run out the big glass doors!" Emily said, smiling again. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other while Luffy got distracted by a bug. It was the first one he'd seen since the spider in the closet a year back.

"But how do we get past all the guards?" Sabo asked slowly. Emily gave a nervous laugh.

"That's going to be tricky. I plan on trying to stall them. Hopefully, I'll be with you and can get up there first and lead them away, but if I get caught sooner then your best bet would be to try and sneak by. When you get up the stairs all you'll have to do is enter the main hall and go out the glass doors, but there's a chance that guards will be stationed at the doors." She said. Luffy was completely gone from the conversation by now, knowing Ace and Sabo would be able to handle it, and was making an arena with the chalk for the spider to crawl around in.

"I should go now. Here, its the best I could find today." Emily said, sliding in three pieces of unwrapped chocolate. They thanked her as she left, popping the candies into their mouth, giving Luffy one. They had just been given breakfast meaning testing would be soon, which they definitely weren't looking forward to.

"Ace, Sabo, look! It's a spider!" Luffy said, finishing his chocolate.

"I haven't seen one of them in a while," Sabo said. It was surprising, the lack of bugs, seeing as they were in the basement.

"Yeah, well if I were a bug, I'd get out of here too." Ace said with a scowl. Suddenly Sabo was scratching his ear and the brothers stopped talking, hearing the footsteps.

"Time for testing! 11032, 11088, 11090!"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

" _I'm gonna kill 'em!_ " Ace growled out, staring at Luffy who was sleeping.

"Ace, calm down, I know you want to-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! Look at what they did to him!" Ace shouted, gesturing to their brother's body. It was littered with cuts and bruises and Luffy's breath was labored, sweat running down his face.

"I know, Ace, I know. I see what they did, damn it, I was _there!_ " Sabo said in exasperation. Ace went silent at that while Sabo took a deep breath.

"I know. I hate it too, trust me, I do, but there is no point in getting angry right now, especially when we have no way of controlling anything. The most we can do now is try and help Luffy the best we can." Sabo said. Ace was quiet for a minute before nodding, the two moving to sit beside Luffy. The doctors had decided to test the effects of seastone inside of a devil fruit users body, injecting Luffy with some in liquid form. They had even continued to test on him after they had given him the seastone, completely disregarding the boys declining health.

"All of this sucks." Ace mumbled out, anger diffusing, though it was still there and would resurface the next time he saw Haru. Sabo rubbed his fingers, Ace watching as he scratched his ear. Ace tilted his head, rolling his fists.

'Food?'

Sabo nodded, having heard the cart. Ace seemed to brighten somewhat. He made a motion of wrapping something around his arm, tilting his head again and pointing to Luffy.

'Help for Luffy?'

Sabo flattened his hand, raising it to face palm down.

'Maybe.'

The two got up, sticking as much as they could out the bars to see further down the hall. After some time Emily finally gave everyone else their food, reaching their cell.

"Hi boys! Oh, poor Luffy, I heard what they did, but I didn't think it was this bad." Emily said, turning her head to look into the cell where Luffy was still laying down.

"Can you help him?" Sabo asked. Emily hesitated, looking between the three, a slight look of fear in her eyes.

"I-... I can." She said after a minute. Ace and Sabo smiled happily at this.

"Great! How?" Sabo asked. Again, there was a slight hesitation before Emily pulled out a needle full of a pinkish liquid.

"What the hell is that?" Ace asked, examining the needle carefully.

"Its something the doctors made up. They think it'll completely flush seastone out of someone's system within seconds." Emily said, handing over the needle to Sabo.

"They think?" Ace asked, skeptical.

"They haven't been able to test it yet, and I stole the one needle they had prepared for the test," Emily said, her voice lowering. Everyone stared at the needle, knowing the significance of what Emily just said.

If they found out she took it, who knew what would happen to her.

"Then I guess we better try it out," Sabo said, standing up. Ace gave him an incredulous look, moving to intercept him.

"What?! Are you crazy?! We don't know what that could do to him!" Ace shouted. Sabo glared at him.

"Yes, we do! We know that this could completely fix Luffy! We have to hope it does, because if it doesn't, then who says he won't just get sicker and die? His devil fruit has been helping him heal rapidly, and now that it's nullified by the seastone he's only going to get worse!" Sabo shouted back. Ace hesitated, looking between his two brothers before finally moving out of the way.

"Fine! I don't like it though!" Ace growled out. Sabo nodded, happy, and slightly surprised, at how little of a fight Ace put up. Sabo moved back beside Luffy, kneeling.

"You don't have to like it until it helps him," Sabo said, sticking the needle into Luffy's arm, making Luffy groan in pain, and injecting the pink liquid into his vein. Everyone watched with bated breaths as Luffy slowly gained color, breathing returning to normal, and expression changing from pained to peaceful.

"I-I... I think it worked." Sabo said softly. Suddenly Luffy groaned again, eyes squeezing as he sat up, blinking rapidly.

"W-Wha' happened?" He asked, looking around.

"You-" Before Sabo could finish that sentence though a shot rang out down the hall, many of the children in their cells screaming at the sudden noise. All three brothers looked outside their cell to see Emily's eyes widening in shock, mouth falling open as she fell to the floor, blood oozing from her wound.

She'd been shot.

" _Emily!_ " Sabo and Luffy shouted in shock, both moving to the bars quickly. Ace followed, just as shocked.

"My my, it seems the serum worked perfectly! I had a feeling you would take it to them, so I kept an eye on you." Haru said, gun in hand as he watched Emily fall.

"Emily?" Luffy asked softly, trying to reach out and touch her, but she was just out of reach. He didn't know what was happening. One second he was hot and weak, and the next he was completely fine. Before he knew it though, Emily was being shot right in front of him. Why?

"You bastard!" Ace shouted, fury showing on his face as he gripped the bars aggressively.

"I prefer Doctor, 11062," Haru said, grabbing the food cart, leaving Emily's body in the hall.

"Clean up in aisle 3!" Haru called down the hallway in a sing-song voice, laughing maniacally. It echoed throughout the hallway until it finally quieted, leaving them alone in their cell, Emily lying on the floor. Ace opened his mouth to speak, but all three jumped when they heard a voice.

"B-boys?" Emily's voice was weak and strained, her breathing light, barely there. Her eyes were opened halfway, peering over to the three.

"Emily!" Luffy cried out, sliding to the ground, holding the bars, Ace and Sabo doing the same. Emily coughed.

"You'll g-get out of here, don' worry..." She mumbled, Sabo trying his best to hold back tears while Ace glared at the ground. Luffy was openly crying, tears and snot running down his face.

"I jus' wan'ed to help, wan'ed to get you all outta here." She said softly, eyes closing.

"P-promise me, you'll get everyone outta here, p-please..." She mumbled out, opening her eyes again to look at them.

"We'll get them out Em, promise," Sabo said quietly, Luffy nodding his agreement rapidly. Emily smiled.

"Thank you..." It came out in a whisper, her eyes closing for the last time, breath leaving her, but smile still showing on her face. It was silent, no one knowing what to do or say. At last, Luffy broke it.

" _A-Ace, S-Sabo!_ " Luffy shouted, turning to them, tears still falling rapidly. Sabo opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

"Luffy..." He finally said, pain clear in his voice. The boy jumped into his arms and began sobbing loudly. Sabo knew he had really liked Emily. He had too, and he was sure Ace did as well. She was nice to them, made their days in the cell almost bearable with edible food and things to entertain themselves with. Now she was gone.

"Damnit!" Ace shouted, and it was obvious he wanted to hit something, throw something, punch something, anything to get his aggression out, but there was nothing in their cell to do that with. He opted to banging on the bars.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, _DAMN IT!_ " Ace shouted over and over, Luffy only sobbing louder and louder. Within a few minutes, a man entered the hallway, retrieving Emily's body and leaving without a word or look their way.

"To hell with this place! Luffy stop crying! I hate crybabies!" Ace shouted, spinning to face him and Sabo. Sabo glared at his brother, knowing he was angry, but that didn't mean he could take it out on Luffy. Luffy merely sniffled, not even bothering to argue that he hadn't been crying.

"Calm down Ace, we'll get out of here," Sabo said, though he knew the words were falling on deaf ears.

"Oh yeah? _How?!_ Emily was our only chance! Now we have no way of getting through the dark halls, passed the guards, or even out of this damn cell!" Ace shouted.

"I don't know, but we will! We _have_ to!" Sabo shouted, anger building inside himself as well.

"You know what?! I'm tired of holding onto hope when it's getting us absolutely nowhere! Face the facts, were stuck in here! Not gettin' out till we die!" Ace shouted, and Sabo had to keep himself from punching his brother, though he did stand suddenly, leaving Luffy to sit on the ground, watching.

"Don't you say that! Since when do you give up on something? You're as stubborn as a mule!" Sabo shouted. Ace glared.

"When I faced the facts that we're done for!" Sabo growled, grabbing his brother by his worn and dirty shirt.

"We're gonna get out of here! _Alive!_ That's my resolution. By the time you and I are 17, we will be out of here. No matter what. We'll be free! We can be pirates!" Sabo said, letting go of Ace and backing away. Ace watched, mouth open, not sure what to say anymore. Luffy sniffled again, standing finally and looking at Ace.

"A-and I won't cry! I won't cry 'till we get out of here! Not a single tear!" Luffy promised resolutely, head high. Ace was still speechless but scoffed.

"Yeah right, you're a crybaby, its what you do." Ace said, trying to go back to his abrasive attitude.

"Nu-uh! I promise I won't!" Luffy shouted. Ace watched him silently for a moment, knowing Luffy normally did everything in his power to keep his promises and didn't make them unless he could keep them. Sabo and Luffy stared at Ace, waiting for his response.

"Well... Well, I'm gonna live my life with no regrets! If we do get out-"

"We will!"

"- _If_ we get out, then I don't want any regrets in my life!" Ace said. Silence. Then, they all smiled.

"Its a promise then. By 17, we'll be out of here and live our lives without regrets. We'll get everyone out of here like Emily wanted." Sabo said.

"And I won't be a crybaby!" Luffy added. Sabo laughed.

"And Lu won't be a crybaby." He agreed, holding his hand out. Luffy smiled happily, putting his hand on top of Sabos, the two watching Ace as he examined the hands before huffing and putting his on top of the pile.

"A promise between three brothers!" Sabo said, the three pushing their hands down and then into the air, cheering.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The rest of the day passed normally, and by breakfast the next day it was like yesterday never happened. The guy that used to give out food, before Emily, was back, handing the food out without expression. The brothers went back to being silent, not sure how much Haru knew about their plan to escape. Did he know about the whole thing? That they had a map? Or did he not know anything? Well if he did know he let them keep their map, which was still taped to the toilet. For now, they were going to assume he knew everything.

Ace and Sabo continued to discuss what they could do to fill in the holes of their plan but were coming up with blanks. There wasn't much they could do now and there was no way for them to get anymore outside help. Despite this, they continued trying to think of different things, ways for them to escape. After their promises were made they were all more determined than ever to get out. They had given themselves a time limit, something to work towards, and now all they had to do was achieve their goals.

"Pur...fff...ect. Perfect!" Luffy said happily. Sabo had written some words with the chalk for Luffy to practice while he and Ace 'talked' through their made-up sign language.

"H... o- no, ow... see? No, that's not right. Mm... How... sss. House!" Luffy continued, going down the list.

'Maybe we could try something when they're taking us for testing.' Ace suggested. Sabo shook his head.

'Not unless we have a weapon or something. They can easily restrain us, and we haven't been able to train in a while.' Sabo signed back.

"Ko... coa...cola?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, not quite sure he had said that word right. Sabo looked over, hearing his confusion and shook his head.

"Close Lu, the -oa in that word don't make the oh sound. The A isn't silent." Sabo said, not bothering to sign it. Luffy nodded, reexamining the word.

'Do you think any of the doors are locked?' Ace asked, and Sabo sighed.

'I hope not. We should have asked before.' Sabo replied.

"Ko... ay... la?" Luffy muttered to himself, shaking his head. Koayla wasn't a word... right?

"It's not a word Lu," Sabo said offhandedly, knowing what Luffy was thinking. Luffy pouted, but became more determined, leaning into the word as if it would help him understand it more.

'Well, we can't ask now, so we have nothing to go on!' Ace signed, his movements becoming more erratic as he got more frustrated.

"Ko... ko..."

'Don't worry, we just have to solve one thing at a time.' Sabo signed carefully, trying to calm his brother down.

"Ko... ah?"

'How are we supposed to do that when we can't solve anything! All of our ideas aren't working!' Ace signed with a growl.

"Ko... ah... la?"

'Ace-'

"Koala!" Luffy was beaming, turning to look at his brother for confirmation that he was right, but frowned when he saw Ace was angry, his signing much faster than normal.

'Don't tell me to calm down! I'm going to sleep!' Ace signed with a huff, standing and moving to the back of the cell where they normally slept. Luffy watched silently, turning back to look at Sabo who was sighing.

"Yes Luffy, the word was Koala."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Hoo boy, that was a lot! So, Emily's dead... whoops? But at least there's a time frame on how long the brothers are willing to remain in this horrible place! If you didn't notice, I've been attempting to have cannon events happen in a non-cannon universe, for example, the brothers promising to live with no regrets after someone they were close with died. Of course, instead of Sabo dying, it was Emily. Expect more of that type of thing to happen in the future.


	7. New Year, New Tests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo- 12
> 
> Luffy- 9

Another year went by quickly. The same straightforward routine, the same testing, the same horrible food. The brothers tried their best to think of things they could do to help them escape, but had come up with nothing. Sabo had been surprised by Ace's behavior when Emily had died. He'd never seen Ace just... give up, but when she died he didn't seem to even want to try anymore.

It was off putting.

He was glad that he had given him something to strive for, a deadline, and hoped that that moment had just been due to all the stress, hoped that he would never have to see his brother act so uncharacteristically again. So far, he was back to normal. It had taken a while for all of them to get over Emily's death, especially Luffy, but everything was back to normal.

Normal sucked.

Normal was having needles poked into you. Normal was eating gross soup out of necessity. Normal was wondering if you would ever escape hell on Earth.

The only thing that broke normal was the weird room that was being built.

The brothers had noticed it when the doctors first started working on it. It was a room that was adjacent to the lab that they tested on them in. They had seen the new door suddenly appear in the room, Haru boasting to them that it was going to be an extremely helpful room. Day and night the doctors, or whoever worked on the room, were building, leaving many with restless nights from the loud noises.

Today, though, it was finally done.

"I want 11062, 11085, and 11097." They were the only three numbers called, confusing the brothers as their doctors came in, dragging them off to the lab to, presumably, be tested on. After two years of the same thing there was no point struggling, so they let it happen. Haru led them to the room, an unusually happy smile on his face as he did. The brothers ignored the practically relieved looks coming from the other children in the cells. The brothers had been there two years and survived. If they could distract the doctors from testing on the others for even a day, they would.

"Finally, after all this time, I get to unveil the newest addition to our facility!" Haru announced as they entered the lab. Ace and Sabo looked at each other, confused, while Luffy stayed silent, face expressionless.

"I like to call it, 'The Training Room'!" Haru said dramatically, the doctors leading the brothers inside the room that had been worked on for the past year. Once inside the three brothers looked around, confused.

It was a simple room, extremely large, and completely covered with fake grass. In the middle of the room was a dirt circle and around the perimeter of the room was a track. The walls were painted a light, sky blue, and the entire thing looked as if they had tried to make the room look like outside.

"With this room I'll be able to expand the variety of tests I perform, and seeing as you three seem to lack an expiration date I thought I'd get you used to your new room. I have a feeling you three will be spending a lot of time in here." Haru said, laughing.

Turns out, the brothers hated the 'Training Room' more than they hated the lab. It was awful. The doctors would send them in there with other test subjects and they were forced to attack each other until the doctors decided it was ok for them to stop.

Of course the doctors didn't stay in the same room during this. They had snail cameras all over the ceiling, watching them, and speakers in the corners so they could talk to them without actually coming in. The brothers didn't want to fight the kids and had tried boycotting it at first, until they threatened them.

"You will fight the other subjects." Haru said calmly, as if stating a fact.

"We wont fight anyone except you damn bastards!" Ace shouted, Sabo beside him with an equally angry expression while Luffy stood slightly behind them, his expression ranging from discomfort to anger. There was something about the way Haru was talking that unsettled Luffy more than usual.

"If asking politely wont work, then I guess some persuasion is in order. You will fight, because if you don't, then I'll separate you all into separate cells." Haru said. This caused the boys to hesitate. Being in the same cell was probably the only thing keeping Ace from going on a suicide mission, not to mention keep Luffy sane. Sabo had seen the look in the youngests eyes, especially when Ace would go on a rant about never escaping. After Emily had died Luffy's personality had slipped from being his normal, loud, happy self, and devolved into sadness, silent, and sometimes, emotionless. He was scared that, soon, Luffy wouldn't show any emotion at all.

'We can't be separated.'

Sabo signed the words discreetly to Ace who nodded back his agreement, knowing that wasn't an option. He had noticed Luffy's emotions, or lack thereof, and after talking with Sabo they had agreed to try and keep Luffy as happy as they could, to keep him from slipping.

"Fine." Ace spat out after a moment of silence. Harus smile widened.

"Wonderful."

And so, the days and weeks after that, they were forced to fight with the other subjects. They felt like they were breaking their promise to Emily, but there was nothing they could do. They had tried everything, even losing on purpose, but they were soon found out.

"You have to actually try." Haru had said, actually showing a hint of annoyance which made Ace happy.

"We are. We haven't exactly had the most exercise over the past two years." Ace growled back, crossing his arms.

"So the three boys who could take down animals larger than a house suddenly can't take a kid whose been deprived any type of nourishment for a whole day and had no fighting experience before now?" Haru asked. Ace shrugged.

"Apparently that would be the case." He said snidely. Haru sighed.

"You know, I've been lenient. I've given you food everyday, let you stay together, and even let you keep that chalk in your cell, but if you still refuse to fight the way I know you can then I guess Im going to have to be persuasive again." Ace and Sabo frowned, knowing that they were at the doctors mercy. Haru seemed to know this as well, smiling.

"Maybe we should run another seastone test on 11097. Its a shame that that one doctor took the only serum we had to fix it though and we've yet to create another." Haru said with mock disappointment.

"Oh well, Nayru, go prep a table." Haru said, waving his hand dismissively, a doctor behind him nodding and turning to leave. Ace and Sabos eyes widened.

"Wait!" Sabo shouted, looking at Luffy who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"We'll fight." Sabo said softly.

Fighting was simple enough, and before they knew it the brothers were back to their normal strength. Eventually the doctors felt that they had peaked and began getting more creative with their fights. At first it started with obstacles, or rules. Can't fight with your right hand, have to spin around ten times every ten minutes, or even fight with a blindfold on. It made the fights more challenging, but it made them more annoying too. One day, though, Haru seemed extra excited about the sparring match.

"11062, 11085, 11097, I'd like you to meet 11053." Haru said, gesturing to a timid looking boy who had the usual tattered clothing on. His hair was unwashed and unkempt, and Sabo wondered if his hair really was a weird brown color or if it was all the dirt.

"I hope you four have a wonderful spar." Haru said, turning and hastily leaving the room, much to their confusion. Before they could over think the situation they were ordered to begin the match, so the brothers did without any hesitation. They couldn't afford it, not when Haru was one more step away from practically killing the three of them.

The fight started out normal enough, and 11053 began to put up a decent fight. Along with the incentive of actually living the doctors promised that anyone who beat the three brothers during sparring would win immediate freedom. No one knew if it was true or not, and as much as the brothers wanted to let them escape, they knew they couldn't. Now, more than ever, Haru was watching their every move for signs of losing on purpose.

The fight continued, with relative ease, and before the three minute mark the brothers thought the fight would be over.

They were mistaken.

Out of nowhere 11053 disappeared from sight, confusing the brothers as they began wondering where he went.

"Oi, what happened?!" Ace shouted at one of the cameras, knowing the doctors had something to do with this. When he didn't get a response Ace growled, regrouping with Sabo and Luffy, the three standing with their backs together, glancing around for the boy. Suddenly, Sabo made a sound as he bent over, grabbing at his stomach with a pained expression.

"Sabo!" Ace and Luffy shouted, confused and worried, but before they could make it to their brother they were sent flying backwards.

"What the hell?!" Ace shouted, jumping back up to his feet, seeing Luffy do the same. Sabo seemed to be recovering from whatever happened to him, but before more could be said they were attacked again. First it was Luffy, the youngest being thrown around a few times, then Ace, the same happening to him, except it actually hurt. Sabo was next, but before too much could happen Luffy was flinging an arm toward him, confusing Ace until 11053 was suddenly there.

"Got you!" Luffy shouted, letting his body fly towards his arm. 11053 looked startled, not expecting to be caught, but before he could even move Luffy reached him, slamming his fist into the boys face, knocking him out.

"Finished! Congratulations, you all get some bread with your dinner tonight!" Haru said excitedly, walking into the room and clapping. That was the only good thing about sparring. They got bread. They were taken back to their cell with shackles on, an extra precaution that the doctors took seeing as they were now much stronger than before, and thrown in without much more said. Their shackles were taken off and they were left to their own devices. Ace and Sabo immediately turned to Luffy, rubbing their fingers together to get Luffys attention, the youngest having gone into the corner to draw with the chalk.

'Luffy, how did you do that?!' Sabo asked, moving to sit in front of him with Ace. Luffy shrugged, not looking up from his drawing, no expression on his face as he signed back.

'I don't know. I just did.'

Sabo sighed, but Ace seemed determined to know, no matter how long it took.

'Yeah, but we couldn't see him and then you suddenly just... had him!' Ace signed. Luffy pouted, still not looking up.

'It wasn't that hard, he was just moving really fast so I grabbed him.' Luffy signed back slowly. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other before nodding.

'Good job Lu.' Sabo signed, patting Luffy on the back. Luffy looked up, staring for a second before smiling.

"Thanks Sabo! Shishishi!" The laugh was one they hadn't heard in a long time and Sabo and Ace realized just how much they missed it.

"Speaking of Luffy doing good, you gotta catch up Ace, Luffys been practicing his words. Hes almost better than you at reading now." Sabo said with a grin. Luffy looked at Sabo, beaming, while Ace grumbled.

"Not my fault words are weird." Ace said, glaring at the word on the ground that Sabo had written out.

"Its not that hard Ace, just sound it out." Sabo encouraged. Ace sighed, looking at the word.

"Fine. Y... ow... th?" Ace asked, looking at Sabo who buzzed, shaking his head.

"Nope. Close though, you almost had it! The o and u here don't make the ow sound. Try again!" Sabo said while Luffy cheered in the background. Ace glared again but tried again.

"Y... you... youth?" He asked, Sabo dinging and Luffy cheering. Ace smiled proudly, happy to have gotten the word right.

"Good job! You guys are getting really good now! We should try to get you to actually write words down." Sabo suggested, handing them both a piece of chalk. Ace scrunched his nose at the thought.

"What if I don't want to?" Ace asked, glaring at the chalk while Luffy grinned happily. Sabo laughed.

"Well, then Lu will know how to write and you wont." Sabo said, taking his own piece. Ace growled.

"No way! What do we do?" Ace asked, suddenly ready to write. Sabo laughed and began teaching.

"We'll start simple, your names." Sabo said, writing out his own name.

"I want you two to try and sound them out and write which letter you think would fit." Sabo explained, the two nodding and beginning to write. It was sloppy, but expected. When they finished Luffy had ended up with Loofy, and Ace ended up with Ase. Sabo smiled.

"Good try, both of you. Luffy, your name isn't spelled with O's, it has a U in it, and there's another f in it. Like this." Sabo said, writing his brothers name down for him to see. Luffy smiled, nodding and rewriting it while Sabo turned to Ace.

"And yours is pretty simple too. Instead of an s your name ends in -CE. Like this." Sabo said, writing Ace's name.

The brothers continued practicing until dinner arrived, which they ate a bit slowly. Sleep came easy to the tired brothers, but after what felt like just falling asleep, they were once again waking up to the sound of the rolling cart, the one signalling that it was time for breakfast.

They had only just barely finished eating before they were being called for testing.

Once they were taken from their cell they were sent to the training room with two others this time, 11009 and 11028. They began sparring and, like last time, everything seemed normal until near the end when the two did something weird. 11009 seemed stronger all of a sudden, while 11028 looked as if all his wounds had healed in seconds. The brothers had a feeling that everyone they fought from now on would have weird abilities like this.

Ace and Sabo took on the rapidly healing one while Luffy took the strong one, all of them knowing that, if Luffy couldn't defeat him, then he would distract him. They could only fight with punches, not weapons, so there was no way that Luffy could be hurt too bad when fighting him. The plan worked for the most part, Ace and Sabo eventually able to knock out 11028 before he had a chance to heal himself, while Luffy was thrown back for the 20th time by 11009. Ace and Sabo rushed over to help and the three of them eventually were able to take him down. They were congratulated and taken back to their cells with the promise of bread.

'Whats with those guys? Why do they all suddenly have superpowers?!' Ace signed in frustration. Sabo frowned, but shrugged, not quite sure himself.

'Maybe the doctors are trying new tests that affect someone's natural abilities? Enhancing them?' Sabo signed back.

'This sucks! Those doctors can go to hell!' Ace signed, infuriated. It made the fights harder to win, not to mention made them hurt the children more. Sabo sighed, turning to Luffy who was drawing.

"Hey Lu, watcha drawing?" Sabo asked, wanting to get his mind off of the dangerous tests the doctors were performing on everyone in the facility. Luffy looked up, eyes distant.

"Im drawing Emily, she always liked my drawings." Luffy mumbled, continuing to scribble, and Sabo was sure that that was hair... or maybe a dress? Sabo smiled lightly to Luffy, ruffling the boys hair.

"Looks good Lu, I'm sure she's watching you right now thinking how amazing it looks." Sabo said softly, wondering if that really was the case, that Emily was watching over them, waiting for them to fulfill their promise to her. Sabo picked up his own piece of chalk and sat beside Luffy, drawing on the ground as well. Ace huffed, hating that he was suddenly by himself, and joined the two with his own chalk.

It was a miracle they still had any chalk left after all the time they spent drawing.

After a few minutes dinner came, with bread, and they ate slowly, all three still invested in their drawings to pay the disgusting food any mind. After some time passed they all slowly began finishing, ready to show off their drawings.

"Mine is all of us with Emily! And there's the candy she would always give us, and the chalk, and the mikans!" Luffy rambled, pointing to each scribble and explaining what it was. Sabo smiled while Ace got ready to comment on how poorly drawn the picture was. Before he could even get a word out though, Sabo slapped his hand over Aces mouth, grinning.

"It looks amazing Lu!" Sabo praised, Luffy beaming with pride at the compliment.

"What did you draw Sabo?!" Luffy asked happily. Sabo smiled, looking at his own drawing, which wasn't as ambitious as Luffys.

"Well, mine is something that represents all of us. I drew your hat, my hat, and Ace's pipe." Sabo said, pointing to the objects. Luffys eyes sparkled.

"Wow! That's so cool! Ne, Ace, you should get a hat..." Luffy said, more of an after thought as he looked at the drawing. Sabo laughed while Ace pouted.

"Just cause you two got hats doesn't mean I need one too." Ace said, crossing his arms and puffing out his cheeks.

"But it would be so cool! We'd all have hats then!" Luffy said happily, looking over at his own hat that had stayed in the corner ever since they got there. Luffy hadn't put it on once since they were in the facility, and Sabo didn't know if it was because he didn't want to lose it or if he didn't like it anymore. He didn't think Luffy would ever not like that hat, especially when he told Ace and Sabo about how precious it was to him practically everyday when they lived in the forest.

"I look just fine without one!" Ace said. Sabo laughed some more before calming down.

"So what did you draw Ace?" He asked, glancing at the eldest brothers drawing, slightly confused by it. Ace grinned excitedly, gesturing down at his drawing.

"Me beating up all those damn doctors obviously!" Ace said proudly. Luffy _'oohed'_ and _'aahhed'_ at the picture as Ace described in detail exactly what was happening. As he finished up his explanation Luffy yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes.

"I guess its time to go to sleep, huh?" Sabo asked, glancing outside their cell where the sounds of pain had quieted down some, indicating that many were asleep. Luffy nodded and the brothers all laid down in their usual formation, Ace in the middle as a pillow for the other two, before drifting off.


	8. See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Ever since the doctors started enhancing the other subjects abilities it only got harder and harder to fight against them. Sometimes they would even have the brothers fight by themselves, only taking one brother to fight and leaving the other two in the cell. They hadn't been strapped down to take any tests in months, but everything comes to an end eventually.

"Normal testing day everybody! 11061, 11002, 11058!" The brothers exchanged glances, confused.

'Normal testing? When was the last time we did that?' Ace signed in confusion.

'And why all of a sudden?' Sabo signed back, not having any answers. Luffy was frowning, stomach churning in nervousness, not liking the feeling he was getting. Finally, Haru got to their cell, calling out their numbers, doctors coming in and shackling them, sending everyone in a line to the lab to be tested on. They were all strapped down and Sabo remembered how horrible this room was. Ace was glaring, per usual, at everyone who came into view, Luffy was staring at the ground, devoid of emotion, and Sabo was glancing at everything and everyone, wondering what the first test was going to be.

The next few hours were the worse torture the brothers had experienced yet. It seemed like every minute was an hour as needles poked, scalpels cut, lights blinded, and before any of them knew it, they were being moved to tables, doctors surrounding them and murmuring to each other excitedly.

None of them could make out what they were saying, their voices seeming far away and muffled like they were talking to them from underwater. Ace's eyes felt strained, and the light only further hurt them. He ached to close them or rub them, but the doctors were doing something to them, forcing them to stay open. The pain was excruciating, never-ending.

Sabo was in much the same boat when it came to pain, but his was in his ears. It was like having an ear infection, every noise around you only making them hurt more, the pain feeling as if it's inside your ear, where you can't do anything to make it feel better. Everyone talking around him amplified the feeling, making it seem like thousands of bees buzzing and stinging in his ears. His arms were restrained, keeping him from trying to cover them from the noise.

Luffy was staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine himself anywhere but here. The ceiling was such a bright white like he remembered the clouds to be outside. He couldn't quite remember the feeling of being outside anymore though, having been stuck inside a basement for too long. He couldn't remember what the sun felt like, what warmth felt like, what the breeze from the sea felt like. He longed for one more day outside, to feel the sun, hear the ocean, smell the salty air, but he was stuck here, where the only thing he could smell was the same antiseptic smell of the lab. His nose felt like it was on fire from the smell, giving him a headache. The alcohol smell burned his nose and the feeling only worsened the ache. He scrunched his nose, trying to relieve some of the burning sensation from it. It didn't help.

"Everythings moving along well." A voice said behind the brothers head. Doctors got closer and continued doing their experiments, sending different waves of pain through the brothers. Eventually, they were taken off the tables and taken back to their cells.

The three looked worse than normal, bandages wrapped around their limbs from all the wounds, but there were bandages around their faces as well. Ace had gauze wrapped around his eyes, freaking him out a bit, while Sabo had patches over his ears, making everything still sound muffled and far away, and Luffy had tissue in his nose and a strip of bandage over the bridge of his nose.

"What's going on? Why can't I see? What's wrapped around my eyes?" Ace asked, moving to claw off his bandages. Sabo stopped him, grabbing his arms before he damaged anything.

"Don't! We don't know what they did to your eyes. The best thing you can do right now is leave those on." Sabo said, his voice sounding quiet, though he thought he was talking normally.

"Stop screaming, I'm not gonna take 'em off!" Ace said, and Sabo was sure if he could he would be glaring at him.

"I didn't know I was shouting, I can barely hear anything. I've got patches on my ears." Sabo explained, grimacing as he touched the patch lightly. He turned to Luffy.

"They did something to Luffy's nose too," Sabo explained to their now blind brother.

"What? Is it broken or something?" Ace asked, annoyed that he couldn't see for himself. Sabo shook his head.

"I don't think so. Luffy, does your nose hurt?" Sabo asked. Luffy made a thinking face before shrugging.

"Not really... everything smells weird though," Luffy said, his voice sounding weird due to the tissue in his nose.

"I'm surprised you smell anything with all that tissue," Sabo said, assessing the damage between all of them. They looked worse for wear but they would pull through.

"I swear, if those bastards made me blind they're gonna regret it." Ace said, sitting with a huff. Sabo left him alone, letting the oldest stew in anger alone while he moved to sit with Luffy who was being silent.

'Whats blind mean?' Luffy signed to Sabo, not wanting Ace to know what he asked. He could tell Ace was angry and he didn't want to upset him more. Sabo frowned at the question, glancing at Ace.

'It means never being able to see from your eyes. It's like having your eyes closed forever and never getting to open them again.' Sabo signed back. Luffy frowned, looking down at the floor after getting the answer.

'I hope Ace isn't blind then.' Luffy signed slowly, expression sad. Sabo frowned, putting an arm around the youngest and pulling him close.

'I hope so too Lu.'

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Unwrap the bandages."

Ace stayed silent as the doctors around him began to unwrap the bandages around his eyes. His eyes were closed and he could only sit and hope that his sight was still there.

After breakfast the next day, which had been a whole ordeal in of itself, Ace had immediately been taken to the lab to be tested on. Except, he had been the only one taken. He had to listen as Haru came into the hall, practically singing his number before dragging him out of his cell and to the lab. Nobody else's number was called and they were the only two walking so Ace assumed he was the only test subject there that morning.

"Bandages removed. 11062, open your eyes." The sentence was said in complete monotone, giving an almost bored impression. Ace began to open his eyes but hissed in pain at the intensely bright lights.

"Light sensitivity. Sight appears to be intact." The same voice continued to speak as lights flashed in his face. He squinted, blinking rapidly and trying to fight an oncoming headache to no avail. Eventually, he was able to adjust to the lighting without having to squint or blink too rapidly. Everything looked a little weird... off. He didn't know how though, it just seemed... sharper? Before he could think too much on it someone was holding up an eye chart test a few feet away from him.

"Alright 11062, read the third line." Ace gave them a confused look but turned to face the chart anyways. It was best just to do what they said, something he learned the hard way over the years.

"C, H, K, R, V, D." He mumbled out, not wanting to participate, though was practically forced to.

"Good." The doctor said, nodding as they scribbled on their clipboard. Eventually, they turned to the one holding to the chart, nodding, and the person moved to the other side of the room.

"Read the last line." Ace was about to yell that nobody could read the tiny line from that far away, but as Ace looked back at the test he saw that he could clearly see what the line said.

"D, K, N, T, W, U, L, J, S, P, X, V, M, R, A, H, C, F, O, Y, Z, G." Ace recited, amazed with himself that he could see them so well. The doctors around him whispered to each other in what seemed to be happiness. The doctor in charge scribbled some more stuff down, turning to a doctor near the door.

"Lights off." As this was said everyone put on some weird glasses and the lights shut off, reminding Ace of the glasses Emily told them about that let the doctors see in the dark.

"Read the second to last line." Ace was just as amazed as before to see that he could clearly read the line, especially in the dark. He looked around the room in amazement after saying the line, ignoring the doctors' happy chatter. Everything looked the same as if the light was on, except it was like everything was under a shady tree, or like he was wearing sunglasses. They made Ace read a few more things in the dark and when he finished that they deemed his testing done, taking him back to his cell where his brothers were waiting.

"11097, you're next." Luffy was taken off to the lab before they could even say a word to each other.

'What happened?!' Sabo signed, worried for his brothers. He saw that Ace didn't have the bandage around his eyes and hoped that meant Ace could see. He was relieved when Ace signed back.

'I can see everything! I can even see in the dark!' Ace said, grinning happily. If he had to go through all the painful testing then he could at least be happy when the outcome gave him cool powers.

'Really?' Sabo signed back in shock. Ace nodded and looked down the hall. Normally the brothers couldn't see what was down there due to the lack of lighting, but it was clear as day for Ace.

'Yeah, I can see all the way to the end of the hall!' Ace signed, turning back to face Sabo. Sabo smiled back happily.

'Well, that solves one of the problems with our plan.'

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Luffy was strapped to his usual seat, Haru standing in front of him with a big smile on his face as he removed the gauze and tissue from his nose. Luffy couldn't even think straight when a wave of smells bombarded his nose. The antiseptic smell was there, like always, but much stronger than usual, as if they were holding it under his nose. He could also smell hundreds of other things, but he couldn't place them.

"Smell this," Haru said, shoving something on a plastic try in front of his face. He did as told, smelling the small specks of... something, reeling at the intense wave of onion. He scrunched his nose up and tried moving away from the smell, already getting a headache. Haru seemed pleased by the reaction and withdrew the tray, replacing it with another and having Luffy repeat the process a few times.

"Now, I'm going to place this chocolate in one of these cups. All you have to do is tell me which one it's under and you can have it." Haru said, showing him a small ball of chocolate. The smell of it wafted over to Luffy, making his stomach growl hungrily. He hadn't had chocolate since Emily snuck him some. Luffy nodded and suddenly he was blindfolded. He heard the cups moving around a few times, and then the blindfold was gone, the doctors looking at him with expectedness. Luffy could still smell the chocolate, not paying much mind to how he could smell it, but noticed it was coming more from the left rather than from the other cups.

"That one," Luffy mumbled, gesturing with his head since his hands were bound. Haru smiled, lifting the cup, revealing the chocolate which he gave to Luffy.

"Good! Fantastic!" Again, they continued this test a few times, adding more cups to the mix, moving the cups all around the room, keeping Luffy blindfolded, anything they could think of until they felt they were done. Luffy was sent back to the cell and Sabo was taken to the lab, leaving Ace and Luffy alone.

'What did they do to you Lu?' Ace signed. Luffy shrugged, not really knowing himself.

'I dunno, they just made me smell things and find chocolate under cups. It was easy, and it only gave me a little bit of a headache!' Luffy signed, counting the day as a win. It was the first time he hadn't been forced under a large amount of pain during testing. While Luffy was gone Ace and Sabo had discussed what the doctors could be up to, deciding that they were messing with their senses like they messed with the other test subjects. Luffy now had a stronger sense of smell and Ace had better vision. They figured that, sense Sabos ears were bandaged, they had tried to give Sabo better hearing too. Ace pushed those thoughts aside, turning to Luffy.

'Well, I can see in the dark, which is much cooler than smelling chocolate under a cup.' Ace signed smugly, causing Luffy to pout.

'Nu-uh, mine is cooler! I got to eat chocolate!' Luffy signed back in his defense. Ace felt a little jealous at that, wanting to taste something that wasn't green garbage.

'Well... I'm stronger! You can still barely aim straight!' Ace signed indignantly. Luffy huffed. Sure, he couldn't aim completely straight yet, but it was better than two years ago when he could barely aim in front of himself.

'You're a meanie! Sabo's nicer!' Luffy signed in anger. Ace scowled at him, hitting him on the head. Luffy whined, holding his head and pouting at Ace.

'He is not!' Ace signed, nearly shouting instead. Luffy stuck his tongue out at Ace.

'Is too!'

'Is not!'

'Is too!'

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Left."

***Beep***

"Left."

***Beep***

"Right."

***Beep***

"Left."

Sabo and Ace had been right when they assumed that his hearing would be better. Once the doctors had taken off the patches he could suddenly hear everyone and everything much better. Even when the doctors were muttering to each other it sounded as if they were talking right in his ear. They had immediately begun testing on him, blindfolding him and telling him to tell them where the beep was coming from, the left or the right. The beep got quieter and quieter each time, and Sabo couldn't help but wonder what it would sound like if his ears weren't enhanced.

"Amazing, his hearing goes beyond any normal humans hearing! He can detect frequencies too high for normal ears!" A doctor muttered in excitement.

"Not only that, everything is amplified for him too! I bet he could hear a mouse squeaking upstairs from his cell!" Another said, just as excited.

This continued for a bit until Sabo was sent back to his cell with his brothers, the two turning to him expectantly. Sabo smiled.

'I could hear your fighting from the lab.' Sabo said, crossing his arms. Ace rolled his eyes and Luffy pouted.

'Ace was being mean!'

'Was not!'

'Was too!'

'Was-'

'Alright, that's enough! Seriously, can't you two just get along?' Sabo signed, shaking his head and sitting down with them. Ace and Luffy both decided to pout for a minute, leaving the cell in silence.

'So... we all got cool powers then? Well, except for Luffy.' Ace signed, confusing Sabo. Was Luffy's smell the same?

'My power is cool! I got sooo much chocolate from it too! Tell him Sabo, smelling everything is cool too!' Luffy signed, and you could practically hear the whine. Sabo smiled at that, laughing.

'It's cool Lu.' Sabo assured, causing Luffy to cheer.

'Told you! Ah, but you guys really smell...' Luffy signed, scrunching his nose up at the awful odor that came from his brothers.

'See, not cool.' Ace signed. Luffy glowered at him, crossing his arms.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

After they were given their different powers they were sent right back to the training room where they were forced to show off their powers. they would have them fight in the dark, forcing Ace to use his night vision, or forcing Sabo to listen for where his opponent was moving. Luffy would have to smell and soon realized that he could track people with their smell, making it easy to fight in the dark, as if he was fighting with the lights on.

Fighting became much easier and the brothers soon adjusted to their unnaturally high senses, the sounds and smells no longer giving Sabo and Luffy headaches and the bright lights of the lab and training room no longer making Ace squint.

Their cell still sucked though. It was still cold, still empty, still filled with the sound of other children's pain, sometimes their own.

'Now that Ace can see in the dark we shouldn't have a problem navigating through the maze. Now, all we need to worry about is taking down all the guards, as well as find a way out of our cell.' Sabo signed, the brothers smiling. They were one step closer to getting out of this hell, and it was, ironically, thanks to the doctors' tests.

'We're stronger, we can beat the guards down!' Ace signed with a determined glint in his eye. Sabo sighed.

I'm sure we'll have to resort to that, but I'd much rather have a plan before we run blindly into them and get caught. We won't have a second chance at escape.' Sabo signed, calming his trigger-happy brother. Ace nodded in understanding. Luffy was watching, reading everything Sabo and Ace signed, but deciding not to say anything. He wasn't good at planning like Ace and Sabo were so he would leave all of that to them.

'Our best bet is-' Sabo suddenly stopped signing, looking out into the darkness of the hallway.

'What is it?' Ace signed in confusion, not hearing anything, but with his brothers' new ability that meant nothing. Luffy watched, interest piquing as well.

'I hear the food cart and... keys? I think the door down there is locked.' Sabo signed, hearing the keys unlock the door and the food cart rolling into the hallway.

'That's just great!' Ace signed in exasperation, throwing his arms up in the air.

'At least we know now. This means we should wait until someone who has the keys comes by, like the food guy.' Sabo signed. Ace huffed but nodded. Food came around to everyone's cell and Luffy gagged, holding his bowl away from his face.

'It smells baaadd~!' Luffy signed, putting his bowl on the floor and making another gagging noise.

'Told you your power was stupid!'

'Is not!'

'Is too!'


	9. Desperate Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo-13
> 
> Luffy-10

Ace and Sabo were officially teenagers now. The three brothers had been trapped in the facility for three years now. Escape was practically within their reach, yet it was so far away at the same time. Nothing changed in the year that they spent in their cell. The most exciting thing that happened was that one of the test subjects from a few months back had tried rebelling against the doctors and even managed to give Haru a good punch. The doctor had a bruise on his face for weeks. Other than that, things were boring.

Lately, though, the doctors seemed to be extra happy about something. What? The brothers had no clue. The doctors wouldn't talk about what it was near Sabo so he couldn't listen in, and there weren't any changes in the tests they did or who they had to spar against.

Today, the doctors were extra excited.

Sabo barely had time to warn his brothers that someone was coming when the sound of high heels moved quickly, almost at a run, down the hall. A female doctor appeared in front of their cell, a wide grin on her face.

"Subject 11062, its time for testing." She announced the words in a rush, unlocking the cell quickly and handcuffing Ace, practically dragging him out of the cell and down the hall. Ace was barely able to give his brothers a confused glance before they were in the lab and he was strapped to a chair. No one even bothered looking at Ace for a few minutes as they grouped up, bright smiles on all their faces which unnerved Ace. He didn't know what was happening, but he had a feeling he might not like it.

After a few moments passed the door opened and Haru walked in with an equally happy grin as the others. He was holding a small black box in his hand and was walking briskly into the room, one of the nurses closing the door behind him.

"Welcome 11062! It's time for your true testing to begin!" Haru announced happily, confusing Ace. True testing? What was all the stuff before now if it wasn't 'true testing'? To answer his question Haru opened the box, unveiling a strange... fruit? It had swirls all over it and was orange, resembling fire almost. Ace wanted to question what was happening but never had the chance as Haru took a chunk out of the fruit and shoved it into Ace's mouth. Chewing Ace grimaced at the horrible taste, like wet ashes left in the grey terminal for five years. After he swallowed he looked at the doctors expectantly, waiting for something to happen.

It was almost anticlimactic.

Everyone just stared at him and he waited, thinking he might feel differently. Was this a weird test? Were they waiting for him to fall over and die? Was it poison?

Ace didn't even have time to react when the bang went off.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Everyone's heads swiveled to the lab where a loud bang came from. Sabo and Luffy sat up in surprise, their eyes wide.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked softly. Sabo had a feeling he knew what that sound was, and he did not like the thoughts that came with them.

"Its fine Luffy, that was probably nothing." Sabo didn't know if he was trying to convince Luffy or himself.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The pain in his shoulder clouded everything else. He couldn't even think due to shock and his eyes were wide, skin a shade paler.

He was just shot.

Haru stared at him with a wicked grin, and Ace was sure he was speaking because his lips were moving, but he couldn't hear anything except for a ringing in his ears. He wasn't dead yet, but the gun was still in Harus hand and from the looks of it he was getting ready to aim at his opposite arm now. Just as the ringing started to die down another shot went off, and this time the pain was worse, more noticeable. Ace looked at the wound, watching the blood that quickly began cascading down his arm and onto the chair he was strapped in. He didn't know if that weird groan came from him or if he imagined it.

Looking back at Haru only made the shock return. He was raising the gun for the third time, but this time, instead of aiming for his arms, or even legs, he was aiming right for his chest.

He was about to die.

Ace couldn't die, he had to protect Luffy and Sabo form these crazy bastards, not to mention get them out! But as he watched Haru's finger slowly pull the trigger he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of calm and happiness. He was going to die. The spawn of the devil would finally be gone and he wouldn't ruin anyone else's life anymore just from his existence. Ace was almost hoping that the gun would go off and kill him, and when the loud bang went off again he closed his eyes in preparation.

But he didn't feel pain.

He waited, thinking it would take a minute from shock, but when he felt nothing but a weird tingling he looked to see no wound, no blood, but instead, fire. There was a hole but it was slowly closing, the inside made of fire that was tangling itself together. Ace stared in wonder as the ringing in his ears dimmed again, cluing him in on the doctors talking.

"It took longer for the logia to take effect." Ace was confused, and even a slight bit disappointed. Wasn't he just shot? How was he alive? And how had his chest been on fire? Ace was still in too much shock to think clearly. He was numb to the world, almost angry that he hadn't died then. What had happened though? Was it a devil fruit? Whatever Haru fed him did taste awful like Luffy had said when talking about his, but what was it? Fire? Was he a fire man now? He had to admit, that was kind of cool, but Ace didn't know how he felt about being forced to eat a devil fruit. That meant he couldn't swim right? Couldn't save Luffy? Man, Sabo is going to be pissed when he finds out he has to save Luffy on his own.

The doctors continued to perform a few more tests on him before they seemed satisfied, patching up his arms and sending him back to his cell. Instead of the normal shackles though, they put seastone ones on him, making it hard for Ace to walk straight. After what seemed to be hours they reached the cell and Ace was tossed in, the doctor rushing off after locking the door.

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy both shouted his name, happy he was back. They both ran over to him, Luffy hugging him tightly, much to his discomfort. Ace groaned.

"Not so tight, arms hurt..." Ace mumbled, hiding the wince. Luffy immediately let's go and Ace could see he was fighting back tears. Ever since they had made their promises Luffy hadn't cried once, though he'd gotten very close to it many times before.

"I'm fine, calm down, my arms are killing me though!" Ace groaned, even talking taking a lot of energy.

"B-But-!" Ace glared at Luffy.

"You didn't think I was dead did you?" ace asked harshly, Luffy looking down.

"But there were loud noises, and Sabo said you would be fine, but I was scared and-"

"Well I'm not dead, so its fine. Besides, I couldn't leave a weak little brother like you alone with Sabo." Ace said, trying for indifference, but feeling slightly... happy?

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sabo asked, angry. Ace scoffed.

"You two are younger than me, so I gotta be alive to watch over you two, that's all." Ace said, trying to stand but wobbling dangerously and falling back to the floor.

"Woah! Careful Ace! Who's watching over who now?" Sabo asked smugly, helping Ace stand. Ace glared at him, shaking his wrists where the shackles jangled together.

"It's these stupid cuffs! They're makin' me all weak!" Ace growled in annoyance. Sabo eyed the cuffs curiously.

"What are they?" Sabo asked, knocking slightly against one as he helped move Ace to sit against a wall, Luffy following.

"Seastone, I think." Ace mumbled out.

"Seastone? But... that only affects devil fruit users, right?" Sabo asked, remembering when Luffy had seastone in his system. Ace scowled.

"Yeah, it does." Ace replied curtly. Sabo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"But then... that means..." A slow realization came over Sabo's face, but Luffy remained completely clueless, waiting for someone to explain.

"That's why they were so excited!" Sabo said. Ace nodded, glaring at his cuffs.

"What?" Luffy asked after realizing no one was going to tell him. Sabo didn't even look at Luffy, eyes still focused on Ace.

"You've got a devil fruit!" Sabo practically shouted. Aces scowl deepened.

"Yeah, and it tasted like shit too!" Ace growled out. Luffy, finally putting the pieces together, grinned.

"That's so cool! What can you do?!" Luffy asked, Sabo wondering as well. Ace shrugged.

"Dunno. They didn't exactly give me a rundown of my powers." Ace said, Sabo raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"Then... what did they do?" He asked. The oldest brother looked away.

"... Tests..." Ace said after a minute. Sabo wasn't accepting that as an answer though.

"Like?" the blonde questioned slowly. Ace frowned.

"Well... they shot me..." Ace said, almost too quiet for Sabo to hear, but he did, Luffy as well.

" _WHAT?!_ " Sabo and Luffy's shouts were simultaneous, both with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

"Its no big deal! I'm fine, right?" Ace asked. Sabo sputtered.

"N-Not a big-?! They _SHOT_ you! It's a very big deal Ace!" Sabo shouted, and Luffy looked on the verge of tears again.

"But I'm fine! Luffy, don't you dare start crying!" Ace shouted, suddenly angry. Sabo glared at the eldest, resisting the urge to punch him.

"Ace, you may not care that you almost died but Luffy and I most certainly do!" The more he talked the louder the blonde got, making Ace wince.

"Why do you care so much anyway?! I shouldn't even be born to begin with!" Ace shouted back in a snarl. Sabo's eyes widened for a second before turning into a harsh glare.

"Oh no. Not this again. We care because we're your brothers Ace! We're your family! Of course, we would care if you died!" Sabo shouted. Luffys lip was trembling, but no tears fell.

"Ace... I don't want you to die either..." Luffy said pain in his voice that broke the brothers' hearts.

"I don't want you to die because if you died then it would be lonely without you, and Sabo and I would be sad, and I wouldn't have you teaching me to aim better, and I wouldn't be able to beat you up, and-"

"I get it Lu." Ace said, cutting Luffy off from his rambling. Everyone went silent, all of them trying to calm down.

"Ace... Promise you'll never die, never ever." Luffy requested softly. Both brothers stayed silent, Sabo's eyes softening.

"Idiot, of course I won't die, like I said, someone needs to protect a weakling of a brother like you." Ace said determinedly. Sabo smiled, shaking his head. No one really knew what to say after that, so they didn't say anything at all. It was almost time for dinner so it wasn't a surprise when the doors opened at the end of the hall and the food cart began rolling their way, Sabo telling the others through signs.

"So, we never did find out. What's your power?" Sabo asked as they ate their food. Ace shrugged.

"I dunno. Like I said, they didn't give me a rundown, but when they shot me the last time it didn't hurt me. I saw where there was supposed to be blood and stuff but it was just a hole. I think I'm made of fire now." Ace said, shocking his brothers.

"Fire, huh?" Sabo asked, thinking. Luffy grinned.

"That's so cool! Can you make fire?! Oh, can you eat fire?! Can you shoot fire?! Can you-"

"We don't know Luffy, remember, he didn't get to try it out," Sabo said before Ace could get annoyed with all the questions. Luffy pouted for a second but quickly got over it, smiling again and nodding in understanding.

"I think I remember reading about a fire fruit though. If your body turned into fire instead of staying solid that might mean you're a logia." Sabo said, finger on chin as he thought. Ace nodded in confirmation.

"The doctors said something like that, logia." Ace said, trying to remember exactly what they'd said, but everything had happened so fast he couldn't quite remember. Sabo nodded.

"Well, it could be the Mera-Mera no mi. It's a logia and, basically, you're a fire man, like Luffy's a rubber man." Sabo explained, thinking back to the book on devil fruits he had read after finding out Luffy was a rubber man. Ace grinned, obviously liking the idea.

"Way cooler than some dumb rubber power." Sabo frowned, but continued talking, cutting off Luffy who was about to begin arguing.

"It means you can control fire now, create it, and even become it, like when they... shot you. You became fire. If someone tried cutting you I'm pretty sure you'd just become fire too." Sabo explained.

Ace nodded, trying to take in all the information.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Begin the next test."

Even though Ace now had devil fruit powers the testing had continued like normal, random doctors doing random injections, or sometimes cuts. Ace was permanently cuffed with seastone unless they were in the training room, and even then they were extremely cautious when getting him out, making sure to spray some weird mist that Sabo deduced must be seastone, weakening him and Luffy enough that they could come in and cuff him. They didn't believe Luffy was enough of a threat to keep him cuffed with the seastone.

At the moment Ace was strapped to a table, staring at the ceiling as the doctors poked and prodded at the bullet wounds in his shoulder and arm.

"It's amazing! Even with seastone, his healing has been sped up, even if just slightly! I bet if he didn't have the seastone on it would practically be miraculous!" The excited chatter in his ear only annoyed Ace.

"Maybe we can try tests to speed it up, with or without seastone!"

"You mean like subject 11028?"

"Yes, but let's try keeping this one alive. 11028 healed too fast and regenerated cells too quickly, ending in his termination."

"You're right, we need to make sure he heals fast, but not _too_ fast."

"I'll get the needles!"

Ace groaned at the mention of the dreaded needles. One of the doctors rushed off while Ace stared at the ceiling. It would be kind of cool to heal even faster than he normally does, but he didn't really want to pay the price for it. His doctors moved away from his table, waiting for needles, giving Ace a chance to check on his brothers.

Luffy was still strapped to a chair, Haru hovering around him and making him do different tests. The youngest of the three did as he was told with a cold despondent look that made Ace shiver.

Prying his eyes away from Luffy he turned to look at Sabo who was strapped to a table beside him, doctors around him injecting different serums into his arms. He could barely even see the hint of blonde from his hair with the number of doctors swarmed around him like bees to flowers.

"Test #981189260 has been successfully injected."

"Test #420375631 injected and successful."

"Test #897423876 has been injected as well!"

With his own doctors away Ace could hear the doctors working on Sabo much clearer than before.

"Temperature spiking."

"Symptoms include shakes, chills, and unconsciousness."

"Hook him up, he's failing."

Ace didn't know what they were talking about, but there was an urgency in the doctors' tones that unsettled Ace. All the other doctors in the room turned to Sabo's table, including Haru. Ace started to realize this might be bad.

"Fading fast-"

"Vitals dropping-"

"BP falling-"

The words buzzed around Ace as he tried to get a better view of his brother, but there were too many people surrounding him.

"-Send the others out-"

"-Had 'im 3 years now-"

"-Dying-"

The last word caught Aces attention, the gravity of the situation hitting him full force as some doctors moved, unstrapping other test subjects, himself and Luffy included.

"Hey, wait! Sabo! What did you bastards do to Sabo?!" Ace shouted, trying to fight against the doctor holding him, not able to do much due to the seastone. Luffy was beside him, being pulled out, watching Ace with fear in his eyes.

"-Heart rate slowing-"

"Let me go you damn bastard!" Ace growled out, trying to fight his way into the lab, but the door was shut in his face.

What he wouldn't give to have Sabos good hearing, to know what those doctors were talking about. Sabo was the smart one, he'd know what all that stuff meant, but Ace was smart enough to know it wasn't good stuff, that Sabo wasn't doing so hot in there.

Ace and Luffy were dragged back to their cell, Ace stumbling to the bars to try and see what was happening, but it was no use. Doctors who were escorting other subjects to their cells were quickly rushing back into the lab without a second glance their way.

"A-Ace? What's happening?" Luffy asked. The youngest didn't know anything about what the doctors were saying, not sure what a BP was or vitals, but the way they were talking gave Luffy enough of an idea to be worried for his blonde brother. Ace turned to him but wasn't sure what to say.

"It's fine. Nothings wrong." Ace grit out, very obviously lying. Even Luffy knew as much, but he forced himself to believe Ace, huddling next to his brother, close to the bars.

It seemed like hours passed, and maybe it had been, but the brothers never left the bars, waiting, hoping, praying to a God they didn't know if they believed in or not, that Sabo would come out ok. Dinner came and the two picked at the soup, not in the mood to eat. Eventually, the two got too tired, huddling together for both the comfort and the warmth.

"Ace?"

"Hm."

"Yer really warm..." Luffy mumbled, snuggling into Ace.

"Like a fire..." Luffy muttered, causing Ace to smile.

"I'm made of fire Luffy, that's why." Ace said, noticing that, since he'd gotten his fruit he'd been a pleasantly warm, a harsh contrast to the cold he remembered the cell being.

"It's nice... I don't like the cold..." Luffy said, burying further into Ace. Ace wrapped an arm around Luffy, not bothering to reply since he heard snores.

If all Ace could do was warm his brother up, he would do it.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Oi, breakfast." The harsh voice came from outside their cell, rousing the two. Ace was groggy but watched as the man practically dropped their soup into their cell before stalking off.

What was happening? Normally Sabo woke them up before breakfast came, but as he scanned the cell there was no blonde brother with them. Confused Ace looked at Luffy who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, expression equally confused.

"Wha-? Where's Sabo?" Luffy asked, groggy. Aces eyebrows knitted, not quite sure himself until the memories of the previous day came back and his blood ran cold.

"Sabo!" Ace practically shouted, gripping the bars and looking down the hall. He knew what the doctors were saying was bad, but why wasn't Sabo back yet? Shouldn't they have fixed him? Maybe they were making sure he was really ok before sending him back to the cell? Ace tried reasoning, not even daring to think of the grim alternative.

Because Sabo couldn't be... _dead_... right?

Ace shook the thought out immediately, not even daring to think about it more. Luffy still didn't seem to remember, and Ace was going to keep it that way as long as he could. Sabo was normally the one who took care of Luffy, he was better at being nice and always knew how to react to Luffy's different moods. He was the patient brother, Ace was the temperamental brother, Sabo was nice, Ace was easily annoyed, and when annoyed he got mad, and when mad he got mean. Sabo knew how to control his emotions.

Ace did not.

So when Luffy slowly got the same look he got in the labs, the same despondent look, Ace began to freak out, not sure what to do.

"H-Hey Lu, why don't we... play a game?" Ace asked, unsure of really what to do in this situation. He wasn't good with emotions, and it took all of his efforts not to yell at Luffy.

"A game?" Luffy asked softly, looking over at Ace. Ace nodded.

"Yeah! We could play tic-tac-toe, or maybe even dots and boxes?" Ace suggested. Luffy seemed hesitant.

"B-but..." Luffy stopped talking and it took everything within Ace to not shout at him, not tell him to spit it out. He had to be nicer because Sabo was gone, and they had agreed to keep Luffy happy as much as they could.

"What is it Lu?" Ace asked, trying to keep the annoyance from his tone. Luffy hesitated again, glancing from him to the ground.

"W-what... what about... Sabo?" Luffy asked, voice getting softer with each word. Ace's lips thinned, but he shook his head, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sure he's fine, the doctors are probably making sure he's really ok before sending him back here." Ace said, moving to grab some chalk.

"So, wanna play?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Time passed slowly.

Too slowly.

The brothers played tic-tac-toe for a bit, and it seemed to distract Luffy a little, but Ace only grew more anxious with each passing minute. They hadn't seen a single doctor besides the one who gave them food, and no one had come to take anyone to the lab for tests or training. It was unsettling, but Ace tried not to think about it.

Eventually, the brothers got tired of tic-tac-toe and moved onto dots and boxes, and then hangman. After some time the two ran out of games to play, and Ace began to panic. Sabo still wasn't back, and Luffy would only be in a good mood until he remembered that fact.

"Why don't we practice our words? I bet I could write more than you!" Ace challenged suddenly. Luffy blinked, registering the words, and grinning, nodding.

"Yeah! But I'm gonna win!" Ace sighed in relief, the two haphazardly scribbling words down.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Lunch came and passed.

No Sabo.

Ace didn't know when it would be an appropriate time to start freaking out and trying to bust the bars to get to Sabo. His wrists hurt from all the writing he was doing, the tough stone rubbing against his skin, but he kept at it, refusing to let Luffy worry.

Then dinner came, and Ace could barely hold the chalk in his hand.

"Let's take a break Lu, eat some food." Ace said, his mood getting progressively worse when Sabo still wasn't showing up.

Until the doctors said something, he would cling to the hope that Sabo was alive. Even if they told him... told him he was... dead... Ace wouldn't believe them.

"Ace?" The eldest looked over at Luffy who was pushing his soup around, staring at it intensely.

"Yeah?" Luffy frowned, gripping the spoon tighter.

"Thank you... for being nice... and for distracting me... and writing even though you were hurt, and keeping me warm, and happy, and," Luffy continued to ramble, shocking Ace. Sometimes Luffy was too damn perceptive.

"Shut up Lu, geez." Ace said with a faint blush, frowning. Luffy promptly stopped talking, not even looking at him. Ace sighed.

"Sorry... it's gonna be fine Luffy. Besides, who said I was doing any of that stuff?! Last I checked I wasn't in any pain, and I was only bored!" Ace said, trying to play off his actions. Luffy stayed silent but eventually looked up at him, smiling.

"Normal testing resumes tomorrow!"

Harus voice threw them off guard, the two abandoning their food and clinging to the bars, looking eagerly down the hall. Ace looked, seeing the bastard doctor walking towards them, and his eyes widened, a smile growing as relief filled him.

Sabo was ok.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

" _You were dead?!_ " Ace nearly shouted in shock, feeling like someone punched him in the gut. Sabo frowned, shushing him.

"Quiet! You'll wake Luffy!" Sabo said. The three were laying down, Luffy already fast asleep on Aces chest, Sabo laying beside him as he told him what happened.

"What do you mean you died?! You're definitely not dead... _right_?!" Ace asked, ignoring the shushing. Sabo sighed, giving up, and nodding.

"I'm not dead Ace, but I did die. Whatever combination of drugs they gave me ended up slowing my heart down and I was clinically dead for three minutes. That was yesterday though. They kept me there while they made sure the drugs left my system ok and took notes on what was happening. They deemed me, 'not likely to die on my own' so they sent me back here." Sabo explained while Ace seethed.

"I can't wait to beat 'em up!" Ace growled. Sabo shook his head, settling his head on Aces chest.

"You know, you're like a heater now," Sabo said, completely changing the subject. Ace sputtered, not expecting the sudden change of topic.

"Yeah, well Luffy said that too. I am fire now after all." Ace mumbled, glad it was dark so his brother didn't see his flushed cheeks. Sabo smiled.

"You did a good job distracting him," Sabo said. Ace raised an eyebrow.

"What're you talkin' 'bout?" Ace asked. There was no way Sabo could know about what they had been doing all day. Sabo laughed, tapping his ear.

"I could hear you-you idiot. I've been awake all day."

Ace was extremely glad it was dark.

"Well... you know! You weren't here so someone had to keep him happy!" Ace said defensively. Sabo continued laughing.

"I know that stupid, it was a compliment. You did a good job. You should be the nice brother more often, it would put Lu more at ease." Sabo said. Ace merely grumbled.

"Sabo?" Luffy's voice shocked the older brothers, all moving to look at the youngest who was staring at their cell bars.

"Yeah Lu?" Sabo asked, unsure how much Luffy had heard. Now that he thought about it, Luffy hadn't been snoring for a while now.

"I'm glad you're back... even if you did die... you would never leave us... Ace wouldn't either," Luffy said quietly, settling back down and closing his eyes. Ace and Sabo gaped at each other, shrugging and settling down as well. There was no point in replying to the comment, especially when the snores were back.

"Maybe he'll forget in the morning." Ace said, closing his own eyes. Sabo scoffed.

"This is Lu, he doesn't forget things like this. He's weird like that." Sabo said, closing his eyes as well.

"You got that right." Sabo smiled at Aces grumble.

"... Ne... Sabo?" Sabo almost sighed. He just wanted to sleep.

"Yeah?" When Ace didn't reply he was ready to just fall asleep, thinking Ace must have passed out before he could answer. Just as he closed his eyes again he heard Ace speak.

"I'm glad you didn't die."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Yeah, I may or may not have killed Sabo... but it was only for three minutes! Don't worry, our favorite brothers aren't separating that easily! As I mentioned, I'm attempting to add canon events into a non-canon world, and one of those events was Sabo's death and (Spoiler if you haven't seen all of the Dressrosa Arc) Sabo's revival.
> 
> But let's just put that all behind us and focus on something else, shall we? Namely, Ace getting his fruit. Obviously, he got it much sooner than in canon for a few reasons, but that's alright I think. I feel like its canon, or at least I've got a headcanon, that when someone eats their devil fruit, the effects aren't immediate.
> 
> Did I imagine it or did Luffy still feel pain for a short bit after eating his devil fruit? Either way, that was the inspiration behind the fact that, after eating the Mera-Mera no mi, Aces body still took a minute before it became fire after being shot.


	10. And We All Fall Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo- 14
> 
> Luffy- 11

"Good job you two! I think you've both completely gotten the hang of it!" Sabo said proudly, looking at the actually well-structured sentences that Ace and Luffy had written out in legible handwriting. Ace and Luffy beamed proudly.

They were now onto their fourth year in the facility, barely having any time to practice reading and writing, but they had finally gotten there in the end. Over the last year, they were all tested and trained harder than ever. With Aces new devil fruit, Sabo nearly dying, and Luffy's sudden adeptness with his devil fruit, the doctors were having a field day.

Ace now had nearly full control over his fruit powers, able to create fire easily and direct it where he wanted it to go. He also found that he could do other cool things, like shoot fire out of his feet for a boost when jumping into the air or when running. The doctors had also done an odd test on him, giving him fast regenerative abilities like they had done to the one child they had fought. Instead of being able to heal wounds in seconds though, Ace was only able to heal much quicker than an average human, a deep cut healing within a few days rather than a week plus.

Sabo was now much stronger than he used to be, but so were all the brothers, what with all their constant training and fighting. After he had died and come back to life the doctors had taken an interest in trying to figure out what the repercussions would be on things like the brain, muscles, senses, etc. His hearing remained as it did after the doctors messed with them, still able to hear talking in rooms far away, and his other senses remained the same, none of them any better or worse than before. Sabo called himself the most normal of the three, only having his better hearing.

Luffy was much better at aiming, only missing occasionally now, and could really pack a punch. He'd created a few new moves, like weaving his fingers and stretching to make a net, or stretching back both arms for a bazooka, as he called it. He had also unlocked what he called gears. The doctors had been pushing Luffy to do different things, one of them being to try and force his blood and heart to pump and move faster. This was Gear Second and made Luffy extremely fast. They also had Gear Third after a doctor mentioned that, since Luffy was rubber and could expand like a balloon, then he could do that with any limb.

All in all, it had been eventful.

"11062, 11097, testing!" Haru chirped, entering the cell along with another doctor, taking Ace and Luffy. Sabo could only watch, wondering why just the two were being taken.

They reached the lab quickly, but this time they weren't strapped to anything or even pushed into the training room. Instead, Haru placed cuffs around Luffy's wrists, seastone, and doctors who were mulling around began uncovering two tanks that had been in the corner of the room, untouched as far as the brothers knew. There were steps leading up to the top of both tanks and the glass allowed them to see that the inside was empty of anything except water that reached the very top of the tank.

Ace and Luffy were pulled along, up the stairs. Ace looked like he wanted to start arguing or fighting, but the seastone around his wrists made him weak, and he hadn't slept well the night before. Overall, Ace was weak and tired, barely even able to shuffle up the steps, much less work up enough energy to yell.

Suddenly the brothers were pushed in, shocking them both as the water immediately made them sink, unable to move their limbs. They both wanted to struggle, Ace looking over at Luffy through the glass, but neither could do a thing.

Within minutes the two were out of breath, bubbles shooting from their mouths as the last of their air escaped their lungs, being replaced with salty sea water that burned their noses and throat. As everything began fading there was a pull, and both brothers were pulled from the water, gasping and coughing.

"2 minutes. Barely acceptable. Again!" Harus voice was stern, a frown on his face. Ace and Luffy were once again unprepared for the push as they landed back into the water, sinking.

This continued for hours, the brothers being pushed into, and then pulled back out of, the tanks filled with water. Their record for being in the longest was currently 3 minutes, which was still unacceptable to Haru. He explained that anything under 5 minutes would only result in another dive back in, but nothing the brothers did helped extend their time underwater before they began to lose consciousness.

Their noses and lungs hurt from the water and the lack of air was giving them headaches, as well as making them dizzy, but they didn't have a say in the matter as they were pushed back in, Ace trying to get a deep breath before the water pulled him in.

"3 minutes."

Pushed back in.

"2 minutes."

Pushed.

"3 minutes and 30 seconds."

Pushed.

It was an exhausting test and Ace saw no end in near for him or Luffy. They were dunked countless more times after, raising their time to 4 minutes due only to luck and pushing the limits. Ace was pretty sure he blacked out during that one before they pulled him out.

"One more minute you two, and then we can finally move on," Haru said, his excitement returning the closer they got to five minutes. Ace and Luffy took deep breaths, being pushed into the water. They managed to last two minutes before running out of the air and beginning the process of drowning all over again. Ace and Luffy's vision was tinted with black, everything slowly beginning to fade away, but right before they were completely out they were pulled again.

The two could only hear the sound of them coughing up all the water, breathing heavily as the black began to fade from their vision.

"-a whole 5 minutes!" Harus voice drifted to their ears and Ace could only feel relief at finally being done with that test.

"Shame, it seems we'll have to start again tomorrow after all. Oh well." Haru said with a sigh, the brothers being lifted from the ground and dragged back to their cell, still dripping wet. The burning sensation hadn't quite left yet, and even though they were breathing heavily it didn't feel like enough air.

They were thrown into their cell where Sabo was sitting, waiting impatiently. He had heard everything so it wasn't a shock to see his brothers soaked and breathing heavily, both still restrained with seastone. It seemed that they were beginning to believe Luffy's powers were strong enough to start harming them because the doctors left the cell without removing the cuffs, leaving Luffy in a perpetual state of weakness.

"I-Its c-c-cold..." Luffy stammered out, shivering and teeth chattering. The cold of the basement and Luffy soaking wet only made the cold even colder, making Sabo fear he would get sick.

"Come on Lu." Ace said, gesturing the best he could with shackled hands for Luffy to sit beside him. Luffy nodded, plopping down next to Ace and snuggling into his side, sighing as he felt the warmth of Aces skin permeate his soaked clothing. Even with seastone on Aces powers still kept his body temperature above that of a normal human being.

"That was a weird test. Why'd they wait four years to start doing it?" Sabo asked, more to himself as he sat in front of the two. Ace shrugged, Luffy not even bothering to reply.

"Who knows, they're crazy bastards, that's excuse enough." Ace muttered. Sabo rolled his eyes with a sigh but agreed with Ace. The doctors were just weird sometimes.

"Well, anyhow, now you both have to wear seastone. We should change our sign language so that you don't have to gesture as much. You wouldn't even be able to tell me there's an explosion because your hands are together." Sabo said with a grin. This time Ace rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, cause I'm gonna need to signal that real soon." Ace said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, you never know. We could do this instead." Sabo said, flicking all of his fingers on both hands a few times. Ace shrugged.

"Sure, that's fine."

This began the long discussion of creating new signs, mostly tapping or flicking to get points across rather than make big gestures. Luffy joined in so he would know what to signal and what certain taps meant.

"I think this-" Sabo began, tapping his index finger on his leg three times.

"-should mean, 'be careful.' That way, if we're in a hurry or we're sneaking around we can signal that something might be about to pop up, so we should be on our guard." Sabo suggested. Ace and Luffy nodded, agreeing to the signal and memorizing it for future use.

"What about when we want to signal that its all clear?" Ace asked. Sabo thought.

"Well, maybe we could just give a thumbs up," Sabo said. Luffy frowned.

"But what if I think you mean good job?" Luffy asked. Sabo thought about it.

"Hm... you're right... well, we could do this." Sabo said, giving a thumbs up, but instead of curling all his fingers he pointed the pinky out. Luffy brightened.

"Mm! That way I'll definitely know!" Luffy cheered, trying out the signal for himself and finding it was easy to do quickly. Sabo smiled, Ace shifting to get more comfortable when Luffy moved.

"Oh, and this could mean, 'You smell good!'" Luffy said, giving two thumbs up and scrunching his nose at the same time. Ace and Sabo laughed.

"You look ridiculous Luffy!" Ace said through laughs. Luffy pouted, listening as his brothers laughed.

"Meanies." He said, wishing he could cross his arms, but found he was unable to with his hands cuffed.

"Sorry Lu-" Sabo said, trying to calm himself, still laughing.

"If it makes you feel better, that can be the signal for you smell good," Sabo said, finally ceasing his laughter, Ace doing the same soon after. Luffy brightened and cheered.

"Yay! After being in that water Ace does smell a lot better, but you still stink Sabo." Luffy said, smiling at Ace and scrunching his nose up at Sabo who merely smiled.

"Not all of us had a water adventure today," Sabo said. Ace scoffed.

"I definitely would not call that an 'adventure'" The eldest said, frowning.

"We could call it-" Sabo was cut off by a loud booming noise coming from the lab, everyone in the cells screaming in fear. The brothers all sat stock straight, Sabo wincing and covering his ears after the loud boom, plus his heightened hearing, caused him to hear ringing.

"W-What was that?!" Luffy asked in fear, sniffing the air over and over again, like a dog.

"Uhhh... Sabo?" Ace asked, Sabo barely able to hear him over the screaming and the ringing.

"Yeah?!" Sabo shouted, trying to get his voice heard. Ace only looked at him, flicking all of his fingers.

_'Explosion.'_

Sabo opened his mouth, about to say something, when the screaming intensified and Sabo could hear a noise, almost like crackling, coming from the lab.

"I-I smell fire..." Luffy said, Ace barely hearing it, but Sabo picking it up loud and clear. That's what the noise was, a fire. Luffy's eyes were wide, Ace and Sabo's as well, as the two oldest moved cautiously to their cell bars while Luffy stayed in the back, grabbing his hat which he hadn't touched in years and holding it tightly to his chest. Ace moved in front of Sabo and peered out, having the better sight.

The better sight was not needed though, because everyone could see the blazing fire moving rapidly down the hallway, seeping into cells and burning whatever was inside. The screams were deafening and the brothers could only stare in horror as they watched children run to the bars, screaming to be let out, fire blazing all around them before they were engulfed.

"Get back!" Ace shouted, shocking Sabo out of his thoughts. He hesitated for only a second before nodding and running to grab Luffy, the three all running to the furthest corner they could, trying to stay away from the fire.

"A-Ace, S-Sabo?!" Luffy shouted in terror, clutching his hat as the smoke billowed into their cell, making it hard to see or breath.

"Get on the ground and cover your noses with your shirts, they're still wet so they should help a little!" Sabo shouted, dropping to the ground and helping Luffy pull his shirt over his nose. Ace watched, noticing Sabo didn't have any wet clothes, so he tore a piece of his shirt off, handing it over as he and Luffy dropped to the ground as well. The smoke hurt their eyes and noses, giving them all headaches.

"I'm scared!" Luffy cried out, tears in his eyes, yet they refused to fall.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll be fine!" Sabo said, not quite sure he believed that himself.

"B-But-!"

"We'll be fine!" Ace shouted, his voice stern as he stared out their cell where it was getting brighter, and hotter. The fire was finally beginning to reach their cell, creeping into the one diagonal to them, and then the one directly in front of them, and then to theirs. They could all only watch as the smoke covered everything and the fire began coming into their cell, all of them sweating from the immense heat.

"It's hot!" Luffy screamed out, trying to move further away but only finding the wall. Sabo didn't know what to do and quickly realized that there was nothing that he could do. He grabbed Luffy, pulling the youngest close to him as they listened to the screams, some beginning to go quiet, others just beginning. Some were dead, some were dying. Ace moved in front of the two, glaring daggers at the fire in front of them.

"Ace-?"

"Its gonna be fine!" Ace cut Sabo off, turning to look at his brothers, his glare leaving and face softening.

"We're not gonna let some fire kill us after being trapped here for four years!" Ace shouted. Sabo gave him a confused look but noticed how close the fire had gotten, nearly touching Aces foot.

"But-... Ace, there's nothing we can do!" Sabo shouted, hating that it was a simple fact now. Ace scoffed at him, Luffy still trembling in his arms.

"I've been practicing, remember?" Ace asked, the fire finally touching Ace, scaring Sabo and Luffy as they watched with wide eyes. Sabo was practically in tears now, realizing these were his final moments. Their final moments. Ace didn't flinch at the fire creeping over him, didn't make a sound, he just let it happen.

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy both shouted the name as their brother disappeared in the flames.

Now the fire was reaching Sabo and Luffy, practically touching their toes. They curled in on themselves as much as they could, Sabo practically crushing Luffy in his grip, as the fire finally began crawling over them.

But it wasn't hot.

Sure, the air around them was scorching and it was hard to breathe, especially through the wet cloth, but when the fire touched them, it didn't hurt. He looked over to Luffy, the boys' eyes squeezed closed with his hat at his chest, but he didn't seem to be in pain.

"L-Luffy?" Sabo asked in shock. Luffy peeked an eye open, looking and seeing the fire on them.

"Ah! It's hot! Hot, hot, hot-! Wait... it's not hot!" Luffy shouted in confusion, looking at Sabo. They were both equally confused.

"I don't understand... hold on... Ace?! _Ace?!_ Ace where are you, you idiot?!" Sabo shouted, but didn't dare move in case whatever was keeping the fire from hurting them went away. Luffy seemed to have the same thoughts as he hesitated, moving to get up, but stopping.

There was once again nothing that the two could do except sit and hope that everything would be ok in the end. The smell of the smoke was burning their noses and Luffy was coughing harshly beside him, Sabo holding in his own coughs.

"S-Sabo, Ace is ok, r-right?!" Luffy asked, the fear having never left his eyes. Sabo didn't know how to respond but wanted to believe Ace was fine. After all, they were fine, right? So Ace had to be too.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll get out of this, all of us," Sabo said, despite his doubts. A tense silence fell over the two, both sitting and doing nothing. There wasn't anything they could do but sit and wait. The screams around them all began to slowly stop until the only thing they could hear was the sound of the fire crackling all around them. This left the two to their thoughts, and Sabo wondered how the two hadn't passed out from lack of oxygen yet. They were breathing in a lot of smoke, regardless if they were breathing through the wet cloth or not, and they were even showing symptoms of smoke inhalation, yet they both seemed to be fine for the time being. Another thing was the fact that they weren't being burned. The fire definitely looked like it was touching them, yet they couldn't feel any of it.

Time passed, the fire eventually beginning to die down. There wasn't much for the fire to burn in the cells, the only thing in them being toilets and concrete, and soon it was small enough that it wasn't overwhelming anymore. They still couldn't see anything from all the smoke, but at least it seemed the fire was stopping. Sabo could hear something down the hall, almost like a whooshing sound, and it gradually got closer, the sound of voices joining the whooshing noise.

"Hey, we're gonna be fine, I hear people," Sabo said to Luffy, mustering a smile for Luffy who grinned back, nodding. They were both hoping that when this was over they would see Ace in front of them, safe and sound.

"-Terminated in here too-"

"-Onto the next one-"

"-No survivors-"

"-Have to resupply-"

Sabo could hear the snippets of conversation, swallowing hard at the thought that all the children in the hall had died from the devastating fire. The noises grew closer, and soon the fire was being put out, doctors flooding into the cells surrounding them. When their cell was cleared, the fire simmering into nothing, Sabo scanned quickly. Ace was where he had been when the fire engulfed him, sweating and panting heavily. A few doctors entered the cell and looked at them in shock.

"Hey, these three survived!"

Everything began to blur, doctors rushing in, grabbing the brothers, and taking them to the lab that was definitely worse for wear. Everything that used to be a pristine, clean white was burnt and black. The chairs were burned to ashes, and the tables, though still there, were blackened as well. All the machines were destroyed and Sabo was glad that everything had been ruined. The doctors might just rebuild it all and start again, but at least this set them back a bit.

"You three just don't want to die, huh? Well, that's good news for us I suppose." Harus familiar voice entered the room as tables were cleared of ash and debris, blankets thrown over them.

"We should begin immediately." A doctor said, Haru nodding his agreement.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Sabo was pretty sure a few days had passed by the time the three were sent back to their cell, which had been cleaned and looked as if nothing had happened. The doctors had worked on them, sticking oxygen masks on them and trying to reverse the effects that the smoke had had on them. The three had cuffs on the entire time but weren't strapped down seeing as the straps had been burnt away.

Everyone was confused on how the three had survived, Sabo and Luffy especially, and eventually found that it had been Ace who had done it. Due to some drug that he had been given before the fire he had gotten just enough strength to control the fire and keep it from burning them. It had left him drained and exhausted by the time the fire had been eradicated and he had passed out the second the doctors reached them, not waking up until two days later.

Now they were in their cell, the hallway absolutely silent. It was unsettling after the constant noise that was in the hallway for the past four years. Everyone else in the hallway had died, as well as two doctors who had been in the lab. Sabo overheard the doctors talking and found out the source of the fire had come from the lab after the doctors tried creating a new drug.

Sabo couldn't even try to feel bad for them.

"Its weird that its so... silent..." Sabo said, looking into the hallway. Ace and Luffy remained silent, not replying to the statement. Sabo sighed, turning to look at their cell. Luffy was in the corner, his hat safe and sound at his side, while Ace was sitting near him, knees up to his chest.

" _Wait,_ " Sabo said, horror creeping on his face as he rushed over to the toilet.

"Don't worry, I kept it safe. Good thing the chalk was there too." Ace said, already knowing what the blonde was thinking. Sabo sighed in relief, spotting the map still taped to the toilet.

"The chalk is safe too?!" Luffy asked, spirits rising slightly. Sabo nodded, holding up the few sticks they had left. They had been careful with how much they used the chalk so that they wouldn't run out.

"Well... this definitely could have been worse," Sabo said softly, remembering how ready he had been to die.

"We're gonna get out of here." Ace said suddenly, having, for the most part, been silent. Sabo and Luffy stared at him, Luffy nodding slowly, a frown on his face, while Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"Not like I'm complaining," Sabo said, shrugging and smiling to the eldest.

"Then we can all be pirates!" Luffy said happily.

"We'll be free."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> This is one of the big events that I knew I wanted to happen in the facility since I started this story. The Grey Terminal fire was an important event in canon One Piece so I wanted to have something similar to that happen in this story. Now all the children there have passed, sadly, but the brothers have once again survived!
> 
> A quick explanation as to what happened, just to clear it up. I don't know the full extent that seastone has on a devil fruit user, just that it basically nullifies a users powers, but I swear I read or heard something somewhere saying that, even though their powers are nullified they still have them. For example, even though blunt objects can hurt Luffy when he's wearing seastone, his limbs can still stretch. I also believe I heard that users can build up a bit of a tolerance to seastone, so that's where this idea came from.
> 
> Essentially, Ace built up enough resistance, both from a drug and from his own resistance to seastone, and used his own fire to combat the fire from the explosion, keeping them all safe in the process. Whether this is a plausible idea or not, I don't know, but this is also a work of fiction, so I guess it doesn't really matter all that much anyways!


	11. Another Day, Another Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo- 15
> 
> Luffy- 12

Life at the facility gradually returned to how it had been before. After the brothers had survived the fire the doctors began rebuilding the lab, leaving the brothers alone for a whole week.

It was almost like a vacation.

After being locked in a facility where they test on you every day for four years, a week where they leave you alone completely and only give you food, which still tasted horrible, was the best thing they could ask for besides being let out. After the week was up, though, they went back to normal testing. They weren't able to spar because there wasn't anyone to spar against, so they were forced to go to the lab every day and get injected with questionable drugs.

After a month the cells were once again filled with children, all under 13, which made Ace and Sabo the oldest subjects. Sparring started again with the reward being bread, and it was like nothing had changed.

By now, all the brothers could read and write, but they still practiced with Sabo when there was nothing else to do. When they were bored of that the only thing they could do was sit in silence, the hallway back to being filled with noises of pain.

They also tried to figure out how they were going to escape, but no matter how many changes they made in their plans there was always something they couldn't get around. The first and foremost obstacle being, get out of their cell. Ace and Luffy were always cuffed in seastone, and the second the doctors opened the door Sabo was cuffed as well, leaving no chance for them to get out without all of them being severely handicapped.

Over the past year, the doctors did more tests on Ace and Luffy involving their devil fruit, injecting them with different things before shoving them into water, or forcing them into tubs where they had to try and move limbs. After all the testing they found that, due to something they had been injected with, the brothers could now last ten minutes underwater before they ran out of oxygen, and another 2 minutes after that before they passed out. They also found that the two could move for the first two minutes of being in the water, meaning that Ace and Luffy could now tread water for a bit before succumbing to the waters pull. This was extremely useful seeing as they wanted to be pirates. If they fell in the water it'd be an emergency, but they could survive on their own for a bit without needing immediate rescue.

After Ace had held the fire back with seastone on the doctors had tried replicating the drug they had given Ace, giving it to Luffy as well and found that they both could use their powers to some extent, but after they would be completely drained of energy. Even before they gave Luffy the drug Luffy kept his rubber powers, even with seastone, but he couldn't use any of his gears. With the help of drug though, he could use the gears for a short period of time.

The final enhancement that the brothers got was the power of haki. Before one of their sparring matches the doctors were talking amongst themselves, Sabo listening like always, and they began wondering what effects haki would have on the brothers and all the possible tests they could do if the brothers had haki. They taught them how to use it and through lots of training the three had gotten pretty good at it. Sabo was best with observation haki while Ace and Luffy were better at armament haki. They were also learning how to suppress it after they found they could sense how strong the others haki was if you didn't.

'Im boooorreeddd~!' Luffy signed through their new and improved sign language that was much more subtle than it had been before. Through a series of taps, the brothers could communicate easily and silently amongst themselves.

'We can play hangman.' Sabo suggested, but Luffy shook his head.

'Tic-tac-toe?' Another no.

'Read? Write.' Double no. Sabo sighed.

'There's not much else we can do then Lu.' Sabo said, sitting in front of his brothers. Luffy pouted, wishing he could cross his arms.

'But I'm booorred~!' Luffy signed, practically whining.

'Well get over it, there's nothing we can do!' Ace signed, an annoyed look on his face. Over the years Ace had become a little nicer, but he was still extremely hot-headed. Sabo guessed after nearly losing each other many times it was putting things in perspective for Ace, but he was so stressed that most times he couldn't be bothered to be nice and was just mean instead.

'I know that but-'

'I swear, if you sign I'm bored.' Ace signed, a glare on his face that made Luffy stop signing completely and frown, looking at the ground instead. Sabo sighed, moving a glare towards Ace.

'Really Ace?' Sabo signed, Ace merely scowling and looking away. Shaking his head Sabo grabbed a piece of chalk, rolling another piece towards Luffy.

'Let's draw. I bet I can draw better then you can.' Sabo signed with a challenging smirk. Luffy brightened, grabbing the chalk and drawing the best he could when cuffed. Sabo began drawing as well, going much slower than Luffy was. The two competed against each other for a bit, in the end ruling Sabo as the winner, before it was time to be tested on, Haru coming through the halls and announcing numbers.

"We've got 11063, 11041, 11030," He walked down the hall, children being dragged out of cells by doctors.

"11086, and my favorites, 11062, 11085, and 11097!" Haru said, standing in front of their cell, Ace glaring harshly at the doctor. Within minutes they were in the lab which had been refurbished, all new chairs with all new straps and everything.

Testing went as it normally did, injections, pain, more injections, more pain. Doctors surrounded them, all talking and writing notes about the effects the shots were having on them. Sabo tried listening to them as much as he could, but it was hard when all he could think about was how cold that last shot made him, or how much his head hurt from the one after that. Sometimes the doctors would start talking about important information, like what they were being injected with or who was sparring next.

"Are we doing test #10972084 today?"

"I'm pretty sure we are, after all, they did bring it in."

"Good, I've been waiting to test it out!"

"Imagine if it works, it'll be a damn miracle!"

"Should we really be trying it out on him though? What if we lose him?"

"All good things come to an end eventually. Besides, '097's the best subject for this."

Sabo's blood ran cold, but it wasn't from the last injection, it was from the words. A test that had the potential to ' _lose_ ' a subject? And they were going to use it on '097? _Luffy_?! Sabo turned to his left to look at Luffy, needles being poked in every inch of his skin, doctors writing on clipboards around him. Turning to his right he saw Ace in much the same predicament, and he was sure that he himself was as well. Sabo rubbed his fingers together a few times, hoping Ace would notice and look his way. It seemed that the oldest never would, but as Sabo tried one more time Ace noticed, looking at him, sweat falling down his face as he breathed heavily.

Sabo crossed his middle finger over his index finger, tapping them rapidly on the chair.

' _Danger_!' Ace got the sign loud and clear, pain being replaced with worry as he replied with a series of taps.

'Whats wrong?' Sabo flicked his eyes towards Luffy, tapping.

'They're gonna do a test on Luffy, a deadly one.' Ace looked over to Luffy, fear shining in his eyes, though his face only showed a frown, slight pain showing. The brothers didn't know what to do, strapped down and at the mercy of the doctors who were giving them hundreds of shots.

'What do we do?' The sound of taps brought Sabo back to the problem at hand as he read the signs Ace was giving him. What could they do? Sabo didn't know, after all, they could barely move their hands, so how were they going to stop the doctors from giving Luffy the test?

"Bring it in."

"You mean test #10972084?"

"Yes, make sure you're on standby to inject the antidote."

"Yes, sir."

Sabo practically got whiplash from how fast he spun his head towards Luffy, Ace trying to look over as well when he noticed his brothers fear. A doctor was making his way towards Luffy, a tray of a dozen needles ready to go while a female doctor followed him holding a needle full of a red liquid.

Ace strained to listen to the doctors, almost wishing he had Sabos hearing at that moment.

"Beginning test #10972084. Injecting poison."

Did he just say _poison_?! Ace and Sabo shared a look of fear, turning back to watch as the doctor began injecting syringe after syringe of what they now knew to be poison. As they finally finished injecting the liquids into the youngest everyone stepped back, watching the effects. Luffy was quickly becoming a deathly pale color, breathing heavily with sweat rolling down his face. He was shaking and the older brothers could only imagine how much pain he was going through.

"Remove all other subjects, prep a table, heart rate rising," Haru announced calmly, checking over Luffy. Ace and Sabo, along with the other subjects, were all unstrapped and dragged to the exit, though Ace and Sabo tried getting out of the doctors' grips and go to their brother.

"Heart rate increasing, temperature rising, poison is taking effect."

The words coming from the doctors' mouths weren't helping comfort the brothers.

"Convulsing, lungs failing."

The calmness in the doctors' voices was unnerving as the brothers were pulled out of the room, the door shutting behind them. Ace was shouting at the doctor pulling him, trying to get out of his grip still, but Sabo had stopped, trying to focus on listening to the doctors, hoping that whatever they were going to give Luffy would save him. They were thrown in their cell, the doctors with Luffy still rambling about his symptoms and how his body was rapidly failing, only making Sabo feel more and more fear, more so than when they were about to be burned to death by the fire last year.

"Sabo, what's happening?! Is Luffy ok?!" Ace asked, noticing the look on Sabo's face.

"H-He's-... They're..." He couldn't even finish his sentence, listening as the doctors began speaking again.

"Heart failing, loss of consciousness."

"Sabo!"

"Administration test #10972084 now."

"Oi! Sabo! What's happening?!" The silence was deafening to Sabo. None of the doctors were talking anymore.

"SABO!" Sabo snapped back to reality, looking at Ace who had a full-blown look of panic on his face, shocking Sabo more than his shout had.

"Is Luffy ok?!" Ace asked, anger creeping into his voice. Sabo looked at Ace for a moment, mouth open to speak but not knowing what to say. Was he ok? From the sounds of it, he was... dead. He had died too though, right? And the doctors had brought him back so they would do the same for Luffy! Right?

"H-he's... I-I don't know, they're not talking." Sabo said softly, wishing the doctors would just say something already.

"2 minutes after the test has been administered, no effects so far." Sabo paled, all breath leaving him.

"A-Ace... I think... I think L-Luffy's..." Sabo stammered over his words, not wanting to say what he thought because then it would be all too real.

"What? What about him?!" Ace asked, desperately wanting to know. He hated not being able to know what was happening.

"H-He's dead..." Sabo said, tears quickly filling his eyes. Ace's own grew wide, his skin paling and his breathing practically stopping.

"3 minutes, no effect."

"Y-you're lying..." Ace said, so quiet that if Sabo didn't have such good hearing he would have missed it.

"Ace-"

"YOU'RE LYING!" Ace shouted, Sabo, flinching at the volume.

"Ace! I'm not lying! Do you think I'd really lie about something like this?!" Sabo asked, anger in his voice. The oldest of the trio merely stared at him, slowly falling to the ground in shock.

"B-but-... but you died too! So... so they'll save him!" Ace said, almost desperate. Sabo's eyebrows slanted in concern.

"4 minutes, no effect."

"Ace, they gave him a drug, to get rid of the poison, it hasn't worked so far," Sabo said in a pained voice.

"But its Luffy! He'll be fine!" Ace shouted back desperately, clenching his fists, hands still cuffed together.

"5 minutes, no effect. Test #10972084 has been ineffective."

"A-Ace, they just gave up," Sabo said, his tears finally falling. Ace felt like his heart was shattering, the shock too much for him as anger quickly took over.

"No... no... those damn BASTARDS! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I SWEAR IM GONNA KICK YOUR ASSES!" Ace shouted, louder than Sabo had ever heard him shout before. The hothead was at the bars, screaming down the hallway while Sabo watched from where he sat, not bothering to stop his brother as he let his tears fall. He didn't want to believe that Luffy was dead, he wanted the doctors to come waltzing down the hall with him in their grip and put him in the cell, safe and sound. He wanted to draw more with him, play more tic-tac-toe, more hangman. He wanted to escape with him, wanted to be free with him, and now he couldn't. His brother was gone.

"-AND I SWEAR TO KAMI IF YOU TRY OPENING THIS CELL IT'LL BE YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU GODAMN ASSHOLE BASTARDS!" Ace shouted, spewing many more creative curses down the hall in his anger.

"6 minutes, beginning to clean up, no effect still."

The words only broke Sabos heart more, and now he wished he didn't have to hear those doctors voices speak about their brother anymore. It was painful, especially when, to the doctors, they were just test subjects, expendable, replaceable.

"7 minutes, finishing-"

The doctor cuts themselves off and Sabo sighed, figuring that he'd rather listen to Ace scream rather than hear them talk anymore.

"A heartbeat? 7 minutes, test #10972084 has taken effect! Heart rate rising, blood flowing, BP rising!"

The words made Sabo sit up in shock, a feeling he couldn't describe filling him as he made a strange choked sound.

"Ace!"

"DON'T YOU ASSHOLES EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING IN THIS HALLWAY BECAUSE WHEN YOU DO-!"

"ACE! Ace, Luffy's alive!" Ace abruptly stopped screaming, spinning to face Sabo, his face and eyes red and puffy, tears in his eyes, yet they hadn't fallen.

"What?!" He asked, rushing over to Sabo who was practically laughing in relief, a new batch of tears falling, these ones of happiness.

"Breathing heavy, heart rate returning to normal, pupils dilated."

"He's alive! Whatever they gave him worked! He's breathing again!" Sabo said. Ace was silent a moment before a smile stretched on his face, falling to the ground and staring at the ceiling.

"Thank fucking Kami!" Ace said, relieved. He closed his eyes, rubbing his face with his shackled hands.

"He's alive! He's alive!" Sabo murmured, both for Ace and himself. For the next few minutes, the two sat in relieved silence. Dinner came, but they paid it no mind, Ace still staring happily at the ceiling and Sabo just listening to the sound of Luffy breathing. At one point Sabo heard Haru mention keeping Luffy for observation, but Sabo didn't mind, as long as Luffy was safe.

The next day was uneventful. Breakfast was served at its normal time and when Ace and Sabo finished eating they both sat, waiting for their brother to return. Lunch came almost too quickly and they ate in much the same way they had their breakfast.

"Why don't we... I don't know... draw or something?" Sabo asked, tired of sitting and doing nothing. It was obvious that they weren't going to be tested on today, if they had they would have been gone before lunch, and it didn't seem like Luffy was coming back soon either, Sabo overhearing the doctors talking about the effects of the antidote still.

"Sure." Ace said unenthusiastically, impatient to see his youngest brother. The two decided on hangman, Sabo trying to think up some more difficult words for Ace to guess.

"What the hell is this word?!" Ace asked after guessing a few letters. Sabo smiled, not giving any clues. A few more guesses left Ace with a mostly assembled body. One more wrong letter and he would lose.

"What the hell kind of word is onomatopoeia?" Ace asked, completely butchering the word as Sabo laughed, writing in the missing letters after Ace failed the game.

"It's pronounced ano-mon-oh-pee-ah Ace," Sabo said slowly, Ace scowling in response.

"You made that word up cheater." Ace said stubbornly which made Sabo laugh more.

"I didn't, its an actual word that describes a word that sounds like a noise, like buzz," Sabo explained, a smile on his face as he erased the word.

"Well, what's with all the random extra letters then?!" Ace asked stubbornly. Sabo laughed again.

"They're silent, who knows why they were added in the first place," Sabo said with a shrug while Ace pouted.

"That's a stupid word." The complaint was ignored though when they both heard a door down the hall being opened, grabbing both of their attention.

It was Luffy!

The boy looked a little worse for wear, his hair slick from sweat, skin a little paler than normal, but he was alive. That was all that mattered. The second he was in the cell the two latched onto him, hugging him as tight as they could, never wanting to let go.

"Luffy! We're so glad you're ok!" Sabo said, relief flooding through his voice. Luffy smiled weakly, happy to be back with his brothers. He never liked being near the doctors for short periods of time and when he was there for a whole day it made him uneasy.

"Hi, guys." He said, his voice hoarse. They helped him sit down, dinner coming as they did.

"How are you feeling Lu?" Sabo asked softly, concerned. Luffy shrugged, frowning as he played with his food.

"Dunno... bad..." Luffy mumbled, yawning.

"Tired." He added, taking a sip of his soup. Sabo nodded.

"After you eat we can go to sleep, we're all tired," Sabo said, he and Ace having not slept all that well last night due to their worry.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, taking more spoonfuls. The soup never got any better, even after years of eating it. They went silent after that, Ace and Sabo keeping a close eye on Luffy in the meantime. Ace hadn't said anything since Luffy got back, and continued not to say anything as they finished dinner, settling down into their usual spot, everyone curling into each other.

"Ne, Ace?" Luffy asked, a frown still on his face.

"What is it Lu?" Ace asked, eyes already closed. Luffy was silent a little longer, Ace peeking an eye open to see if he was still awake, Sabo doing the same.

"Are you mad at me?" Luffy asked, frown deepening and worry in his voice. Ace raised an eyebrow, both he and Sabo were confused by the question.

"No, why?" The eldest asked. Luffy shrugged.

"I was weak, and I d-died, and I almost cried 'cause it hurt a lot, but I didn't! 'Cause I promised, but I thought you might hate me because you weren't talking to me and you seemed angry..." Luffy said, trailing off. Ace opened his mouth, ready to speak.

"Of course I'm not mad at you Lu, I'm mad at those stupid doctors. It's not your fault they did that stupid test!" Ace said. Sabo smiled at seeing Ace actually opening up to Luffy.

"We were both just worried Luffy, but now everything's ok, we're all alive," Sabo said reassuringly. Ace grimaced. They had been trapped here for too long, and they all had nearly died multiple times. What if, next time, they weren't so lucky? What if one of them really did die, and stay dead?

Ace shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts, not wanting to think about scenarios like that.

They would escape before something like that happened.

They would be out of here by the time they were 17.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Let's talk about the elephant in the room.
> 
> Yes, Luffy died. This was influenced by two different ideas I had. In canon, when Luffy and Ace were kids and Luffy almost died by the bear, that was a pivotal moment in their lives and Aces entire attitude changed because of it. Because of this, I had something similar, yet different happen in my story, where instead of near death, Luffy actually did die. The other idea was *Spoiler if you haven't seen through the Impel Down Arc* that Luffy nearly dies from poison when fighting Magellan, which gave me the idea to move that near-death up to this point, allowing for both canon events to happen in a different way. *Spoiler over*
> 
> So with Luffys death, you can see that the brothers are much more eager to escape, and you can also see Ace becoming much more open and kind.
> 
> Trust me, they're nearly out now.


	12. Bittersweet 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo- 16
> 
> Luffy- 13

Another year passed by and the brothers were still locked in the facility. It was getting closer to the deadline they had set for themselves to get out, just one more year. Sabo didn't know what would happen if they didn't get out by then. Ace would probably lose all hope and go back to being a suicidal idiot ready to do absolutely anything it took to get out while Luffy would probably lose his smile for good. It was already becoming a rare occurrence to see Luffy smile and if Sabo never saw it again, he would probably join Ace in his suicidal adventure to get out.

The last year had been spent planning, as it seemed every year was spent the same way. With no progress, Ace was getting progressively more annoyed and frustrated, ready to give up on a plan altogether and go out fighting the second they could.

The doctors continued their testing, though Sabo suspected they would even if the apocalypse began outside. Sparring also continued and Ace and Sabo would probably have gained a lot more muscle if they didn't have only two bowls of horrible soup a day. All of them were extremely thin to the point that it was sickening, but there was nothing they could do except hope for some bread with their food.

With Ace and Luffy's appetites and the lack of food they were given, their stomachs seemed to have never stopped growling sense they had gotten to the facility. When they got out of here Sabo was prepared to make a feast for them, exclusively meat if he could.

The doctors had tried pushing the brothers' limits during sparring, and because of that, the three had found out something pretty helpful. At one point they were fighting a child who had the power to sharpen his skin as sharp as a knifes edge, making the fight difficult to win. At one point the child had gotten Luffy into a hold, ready to stab him, when Ace freaked out and somehow knocked the kid out from the other side of the room. It had confused all of them, but seemed to make the doctors extremely happy as they came in, babbling about the 'rare third haki'.

Turns out, Ace had the conquering kings haki.

They didn't really know the full extent of what that meant, but the doctors didn't explain it much, just rambled on to themselves how they could try so many new tests because of this. After that, they forced Ace under immense stress over and over again, whether it be by nearly killing him or nearly killing Sabo or Luffy. Ace activated the haki a few more times, knocking out the doctors every time, but all three of them would always be strapped down so they couldn't try escaping when the doctors were down.

Other than that, nothing new had happened during training or sparring. They were finally running out of chalk though, onto their very last stick, which upset Luffy sense, as he said, ' _it was the last thing they could remember Emily by._ ' After he had said that the three decided not to touch it. They would rather keep the piece of chalk that reminded Luffy of Emily rather than use it up like they had the others.

After the catastrophic event of Luffy dying last year Ace had taken a complete turn in personality, becoming much nicer to the brothers and doing whatever he could to keep them happy and safe. Sometimes, though, it became a little annoying.

"But what if Luffy gets hurt?!" Ace asked. Sabo sighed for the umpteenth time, rubbing a hand down his face, still the only one of the three to not be cuffed 24/7.

"Ace we're all bound to get hurt. It's not like the guards are just going to ignore him because we ask politely." Sabo said. This argument had started after Sabo suggested another way to get out, though it was a little risky for all of them. Since Ace had become nicer he had also become a slight bit more overprotective as well.

"I'm not expecting them to, but why can't I be there so I can kick their asses?" Ace asked, wishing he could cross his arms.

This was a common argument amongst the two. Whenever they discussed ways to escape Ace would want to be the one to do all the fighting, which just wasn't possible unless Ace wanted to get himself killed, which Sabo wouldn't put past him.

Sabo was happy that Ace was much more open than he used to be, but like he said previously, it could get annoying. After Luffy had almost died the doctors had done lots of testing on him and found out that, after literally dying from extreme amounts of poison, he now had a high tolerance to it.

"11097, today's your lucky day!" Haru sang as he came towards their cell, stopping Ace and Sabo's argument. Luffy looked up from where he'd been sitting in the back, listening to Ace and Sabo. None of them liked the words or the way Haru said them as he finally reached their cell. Luffy stood up, obediently walking out seeing as there was no use fighting it. Now on their fifth year in the facility, they were all older than the other children in there and knew that they should just follow the doctors' orders to avoid unnecessary pain. Sabo sat up straighter in the cell, ready to listen to whatever they did to Luffy and relay it Ace. Luffy was led into the lab, Haru humming cheerily beside him, while Luffy walked silently, trying to ignore the insane doctor.

Even after five years the feeling Luffy got from Haru never left, it was a perpetually uneasy feeling. There was just something... off about the man. It was like a darkness that surrounded him, trying to cling to Luffy, and he didn't like it one bit.

The youngest was led into the lab and strapped into the same chair he had since they were first there. There was only a handful of doctors in the room this time seeing as Luffy was the only one being tested on. They began almost immediately, except they did something different from usual.

They were strapping weird sticky pads to his head. The pads had wires coming out of them and they connected to a weird machine. He had no idea what it was or what it did so he just turned back to the doctors, Haru holding a needle.

"This one's going to pinch more than usual." It sounded like it could have been a warning, like Haru might actually be a little sympathetic, but the smile on his face and the tone in his voice contradicted the wording as he stabbed the needle none too lightly into Luffy's shoulder.

It hurt a lot more than a pinch.

The liquid was injected into him and it felt like everything was on fire. It was a searing pain that crept through his body, first from his arm, then to his chest, then his legs, and finally his head. He had one of the worse headaches he had ever had in his life and it felt like his head might explode from all the pressure he felt.

There was a pain in his eyes as well, making him squeeze his eyes shut in an attempt to ease some of it, but it did nothing to help. He thought the pain would have started to die down like it normally did, but, if anything, it got worse as time passed. He didn't want to move anything in fear that the pain would only intensify, but it was hard not to move when it felt like thousands of bugs were crawling under your skin. Sweat was pouring down his face now and when he opened his eyes the doctors saw they were bloodshot. He was panting heavily, and after ten minutes the pain slowly began to ebb away until he felt normal again.

Well, normal in terms of feeling no pain. Besides that, something was... off. There was something different about what he was feeling, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It seemed like there was just... something. Something in the air maybe? He tried focusing, tried pinpointing where the feeling was coming from, or even what the feeling was, but it was hard. It seemed like it was coming from everywhere at once, but was stronger in some spots more than others.

"11097?" A voice brought him back to reality, the doctors all staring at him expectantly. The second he looked at the doctor who called his number though there was an immense pain in his head again and images began flashing behind his eyes, confusing him. He could barely make out the strange pictures, but it seemed like a child growing up with their parents and eventually leaving home. He didn't know what was happening but suddenly the child was a teen, reading books a lot, and then there was a flash as they talked to some weird marines. The next thing he saw was the teen as an adult, a very familiar one, and they were in the facility, walking through the cell hall and taking children to the lab. He saw himself in one of the chairs, younger.

The flashes went away and Luffy opened his eyes, the pain gone as well. The person he had seen was the doctor he had just looked at.

"-spike in brain wave activity."

"11097, look here." Haru's voice called him and Luffy obeyed, another pain making him close his eyes as more flashes began to flare behind his eyes. It was much like the other flashes, a child being the focus, the child growing to a teen, then adult, talking to some marines, and being here in the facility, testing on children, seeing himself, Ace and Sabo as well, except this adult was Haru, not the other doctor.

Again the pain went away and he was back in the lab, panting heavily, feeling exhausted.

"It seems he can't control it yet." As Luffy looked over at the doctor who had spoken they met eyes and the pain was back, the flashes were back, and then they were gone. The raven didn't know what was happening but he didn't like it. It hurt a lot and it was disorienting, the flashes making it hard to process what was happening around him.

"11097, don't look at their eyes." At the command Luffy obeyed, not looking anyone in the eyes and found that the pain didn't come when he looked at someone.

"Wonderful! To think, we could create something like this!" Haru cheered happily, clapping his hands together as someone scribbled words down beside him.

"Next! '097, I want you to focus on a single person, don't look in their eyes, try to feel what their feeling. Use me as a practice if you must." Haru said, a smile wide on his face. The teen nodded, trying to focus on Haru, feel what he was feeling. He didn't know why he was doing this or what was supposed to happen, but Luffy didn't question it, opting to follow instructions and get this over with.

Luffy went back to focusing on Haru, trying to feel what he was feeling, but how do you feel how someone else was feeling? You could only feel what you felt, right? But as Luffy focused he could feel the waves of happiness radiating off of Haru, shocking him. He tried focusing harder, enjoying the feeling of the happiness, but when he did there was the sudden, intense, feeling of darkness that Luffy always sensed from Haru. It engulfed him like smoke, making it hard to breathe and clouding his thoughts. Luffy immediately stopped trying to feel Haru's emotions and the feeling went away, relieving the boy.

"Good! Excellent! Perfect! Try it on him next!" Haru said, pointing to the man beside him. Luffy didn't want to feel that darkness again but did as told, focusing on the person beside him. It was a lot easier to do this time, a slight feeling of happiness rolling off the man, but also something that felt like indifference. Digging deeper Luffy felt a hint of sadness that Luffy decided he didn't like the feeling of. Stopping he was met with a large grin from Haru.

"Amazing! Why don't we begin control now, hm?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Luffy! Are you ok?" Sabo asked as the boy came back into their cell. Sabo had heard everything but didn't have a clue what any of it meant, Ace either.

"Mm... I'm fine, just tired." Luffy mumbled, sitting against the wall.

"What happened?" Ace asked, hiding his concern. He may be a lot more open with his brothers, but that didn't mean he liked to show them all of his emotions. Luffy shrugged.

"They gave me something weird, it hurt a lot, felt like fire, but it went away," Luffy said, not being all that descriptive.

"What did it do?" Sabo asked, remembering some of the things the doctors said.

"I don't know. Every time I look at someone's eyes it hurts a lot and there are these weird pictures, and-"

"Weird pictures?" Ace asked, confused. Luffy nodded, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

"Mm. They're different everytime but it starts with a child and then they get older and older and then they're adults and they talk to some weird marines and then they're here at the facility, and they're always one of the doctors. Sometimes I saw us in the flashes too." Luffy explained. Sabo looked at him in confusion, having a hunch.

"Luffy... are you seeing their memories?" Sabo asked. The youngest tilted his head, seeming to be thinking, before shrugging.

"I dunno." Sabo sighed.

"Why don't you look in one of our eyes. If you see our memories then you'll have your answer." Sabo said. Luffy stared at the ground, a frown forming on his face and fear flashing in his eyes.

"B-but it hurts when I do. I don't like it!" Luffy whined. Sabo and Ace gave him worried looks.

"Just once. Besides, Sabo told me they said something about controlling it right? A way to look at people without seeing the flashes?" Ace asked, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder. Luffy nodded slowly, still not looking up.

"So then you need to practice. If you do, it'll hurt, but then you won't have to stare at the ground for the rest of your life." Ace said. Luffy hesitated, but slowly lifted his head, though didn't meet any of their watching eyes.

"A-alright... I guess I'll try..." Luffy said softly. They both nodded.

"Well, then have a look, you guys already know how I grew up," Sabo said with a shrug. Luffy nodded again and looked at Sabo in the eyes, the pain returning as the flashes came. He could see Sabo as a child in a weird room with a lot of books. There was a man and woman there too, and another kid, Sabos biological family. Then Sabo was in the Grey Terminal, a place Luffy hadn't seen in years. And he saw Ace too, a lot younger than he was now, and then there was himself! Oh, and Dadan, and Makino, and Garp! But then, he saw them get captured, saw them taken to the boat, saw them locked in a closet, Ace shouting a lot at Sabo, and then they were in the facility, in their cell, tested on. Time passed quickly as Luffy watched, tests being done over and over again until one test happened where everyone had to leave except Sabo, and then Sabo wasn't breathing. Everything went black and Luffy thought he fell asleep, but when the light came back it was still the flashes, and Luffy realized Sabo had died. He watched the years go by until they were back to the present, the flashes fading away.

"What happened?" Sabo asked as they saw Luffy's eyes refocus, pupils which had dilated shrinking back to normal size. Luffy blinked a few times before looking back at the ground.

"I-I saw your memories, all of them," Luffy said softly, cherishing the glimpse he'd seen of Makino, Dadan, and even Garp.

"You saw his whole life in less than a minute?" Ace asked. Luffy hadn't known it happened that quick, it felt much longer. He shrugged.

"I guess." Sabo sighed.

"Well now we know what's happening, so all we have to do is control it, right?" Sabo said, trying to encourage his brother. Luffy nodded slowly, still unsure.

"Come on, we've faced five years of hell, you can beat a few hours trying to control this." Ace said encouragingly. Luffy stared at the ground, a slow smile forming on his lips, causing Ace and Sabo to smile as well.

"Mm! I can control it!" Luffy said happily.

"Great! The doctors said that all you had to do was block it. I don't know exactly what that means, but its a start." Sabo said with a shrug.

"Try thinking about not seeing the memories when you look at someone." Ace suggested. Luffy nodded, preparing to feel the pain but forcing himself to believe that he wouldn't see any memories when he looked up.

The brothers practiced for hours, dinner coming and passing, but having no progress. Even if Luffy glimpsed at someone's eyes he saw their memories. He didn't like it, it felt invasive. Memories were precious and Luffy didn't like that he could just go and see them without trying.

"It wasn't expected to get it down in a day Lu, we'll get it eventually," Sabo said encouragingly, patting Luffys back. The raven nodded, staring at the ground.

"Well, what else happened when you were in there?" Ace asked, changing the subject as the three laid down, getting ready to sleep.

"I can feel peoples feelings," Luffy said, yawning at the end of the sentence.

"Is that what was happening? All I knew was Haru was really adamant about you trying to guess what people were feeling." Sabo said, eyes closed as he laid on Aces chest. Luffy nodded.

"Mm. If I focus on a person I can feel what they feel. If they're happy I could feel happy, if they were sad I felt sad. I didn't like sad though so I stopped when I felt that, but happy was a nice feeling!" Luffy said cheerily, remembering what the feeling felt like.

"Oh yeah? What else?" Ace asked. Luffy hummed.

"Well... there was this bad feeling coming from Haru..." Luffy said, voice going soft.

"Bad feeling?" Sabo asked, peeking his eyes open. Luffy nodded.

"It was... dark... I couldn't breathe and it didn't feel good at all..." Luffy said, shuddering at the memory of it. Ace and Sabo shared a glance.

"Well... maybe you shouldn't focus too much on him then, it doesn't sound like a good experience," Sabo said after some thought. Luffy shook his head.

"It's not." He confirmed with a frown. After that they settled down, ready to sleep, but Luffy suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I also keep feeling something, but I don't know what it is or where it's coming from," Luffy said, feeling it now, though it was different, warmer.

"What do you mean?" Sabo asked. Luffy hummed again.

"I dunno... it's like... something in the air. In the lab, it felt all jumbled and weird but here it feels warm and nice." Luffy said, liking the feeling.

"Is it emotions?" Ace asked offhandedly, taking a guess. Luffy opened his mouth, prepared to say that it couldn't be because he wasn't focusing, but then he realized.

"Oh, it is. You're smart Ace!" Luffy said happily, laughing to himself while Ace flushed.

"Wait, it is emotions?" Ace asked, slightly shocked that he had guessed right without trying. Luffy nodded.

"Mm! I couldn't tell because I wasn't focusing on anyone but I can feel everyone's feelings. They're not as strong as when I focus on someone though." Luffy said, focusing on Ace and finding that the warm feeling was emanating from him, then focusing on Sabo and feeling the same feeling. Luffy didn't know quite what emotion it was, but it was nice and was only what Luffy could describe as the nice feeling of being hugged.

"At least we figured it out. Tomorrow we can try controlling your new powers more." Sabo said, the two nodding their agreement as they all fell asleep.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Control it 11097," Haru said strictly, an unhappy look on his face. Luffy could feel the frustration and annoyance flowing off of the man, making him feel bad. The negative emotions impacted him more than his own emotions did and it was harder to concentrate. Luffy looked up from the ground, trying to block any flashes from coming through, but as he looked into the random child's eyes he saw their memories, flashing behind his eyes.

"Again!" Haru said, anger rising. Luffy looked at the ground, his head pounding from all the memories he'd seen. They had been trying to control it since morning and Luffy was trying as hard as he could to do it like the doctors wanted him to, but no matter how hard he tried it didn't work.

"You have three more tries '097. If you don't do it by then there will be repercussions." Haru said in a dangerous tone. Luffy knew he wasn't bluffing, the doctors feeling of anger ensured he would. Luffy felt fear begin to take form in him, his heart beating faster as he raised his eyes to the child again.

He can't see the memories, if he does he'll be punished, and he doesn't want to feel more pain.

"Two more tries!"

Luffy winced at the onslaught of memories but tried again, looking into the child's eyes.

"One more!"

The tone was harsher than before and Luffy felt like the walls were closing in as he panicked. He tried as hard as he could to not see the memories, imagined building a wall behind his eyes so he wouldn't see them, and when he looked up, he only saw the child.

He almost didn't believe it at first, but as he stared into the terrified child's eyes he relished in the fact that there was no pain, no memories, just a person. Luffy looked at Haru, excitement in his eyes as he felt the anger leave the doctor, being replaced with a happiness, excitement.

"Perfect."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Congratulations Lu!" Sabo said as Luffy told them how his day went.

"And it didn't hurt, and I didn't see the memories, and I can look at people instead of the ground!" Luffy rambled happily, feeding off the happiness coming from his brothers, as well as that warm feeling.

"So now you don't have to worry anymore." Ace said, sitting beside Sabo. Luffy nodded.

"Mhm! If I wanna see memories all I gotta do is take down the wall, but I don't wanna do that 'cause it hurts and memories are private and they're peoples treasures so I don't wanna ruin them." Luffy continued. It was the most lively the brothers had seen him in a while.

"And then I had to learn how to control all the feelings coming from people, and now it's not so powerful, and if I focus on someone I can feel all their emotions. If I don't its still there, but not as strong as before." Sabo and Ace merely nodded along, seeing no point in stopping their brother when he hadn't had a chance to be this happy in a while.

"But after we did all that they made me get another shot, and that one hurt my head again... and my eyes," Luffy said, voice toning down a bit. Ace and Sabo frowned. They hadn't been in the lab that day, only Luffy and sometimes another kid, but Sabo hadn't been listening closely, he and Ace had been working on the plan.

"Did it do anything?" Sabo asked. Luffy shrugged.

"Dunno. They were talking a lot but I think they said something about it working tomorrow." Luffy said. The eldest brothers shared a look but tried keeping their feelings more on the side of calm, not wanting Luffy to feel their worry.

"Well, it might just be nothing." Ace said dismissively, waving a hand. Sabo and Luffy nodded, all relaxing again.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

When Luffy woke up he realized that things seemed a little... different. Everyone he looked at had a weird color around them, Ace and Sabo having a weird transparent, light blue color while the guy who gave them breakfast had a slightly darker blue-grey color. He wanted to mention it to Ace and Sabo but Luffy didn't even have a chance to eat breakfast before Haru was dragging him out of his cell, the color around him a pure, opaque black. It wasn't very pleasant to look at or be near.

Sabo and Ace were still in the cell along with everyone else in the facility and that only confused them more.

"Its been three days, why do they keep taking Luffy?" Ace asked. The doctors had always had an interest in the boy sense, at first, he was the only one with a devil fruit, but this was a bit much, even for them.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna focus on them more this time," Sabo muttered, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes, listening so he could hear the doctors talking.

"Test #3829719 underway."

Luffy was strapped to a chair, all the doctors in the room having the same strange colors around them, all the same grey-blue, except for Haru who had pure black.

"11097, what do you see?" Haru asked, all the doctors ready to write down Luffy's every word.

"I-I don't know, colors..." Luffy said softly. He had never been asked any questions by the doctors and he was pretty sure it was the first time he'd ever talked to them, besides when he talked to Emily.

"Colors? Where? What colors?"

"Around people... They're blue... or grey... or-... or black..." Luffy said, still not sure if he should be talking, but not having much choice.

"Excellent. Can you turn the colors off? Stop seeing them?" He asked, and Luffy nearly shrugged but was restrained by the straps.

"I dunno," Luffy muttered, wanting to stop talking to them.

"Try." It was a demand and Luffy was forced to obey. He tried doing what he'd done to not see memories, creating a wall and found that the colors did dim slightly, but weren't gone completely. He tried strengthening the wall and, eventually, there were no more colors.

"T-they're gone." Haru's smile grew and a dark feeling came off him, making Luffy shudder. The doctors' attention left Luffy as they regrouped, all talking at once, and Luffy began to zone out. He tried focusing on one person to feel emotions for fun but quickly got bored, especially when most of the doctors felt neutral, no strong emotions coming off of them, not even happiness or anger.

"Let's begin the final test of the series," Haru announced suddenly, drawing Luffy's attention back to him. He was, once again, injected with a liquid. It didn't feel like anything was happening at first, but then there was a drowsiness that overwhelmed him completely, making it impossible to keep his eyes open.

"... working... strong will... mind..." Luffy couldn't make sense of the words being spoken around him as he drifted off.

When he woke up he was in the training room, except he was strapped to a chair, another one in front of him with another child sitting in it, also strapped down.

"Welcome back 11097. Let's begin testing." Luffy recognized the voice as being Haru's, the man outside of the training room. He could feel the strong feelings coming from outside the room, knowing they belonged to Haru and didn't like the nauseous feeling it gave him. The child in front of him wasn't any better, the poor kid radiating fear and panic with an intensity that began making Luffy feel panicked as well.

"Create a bridge between you two '097." It wasn't much help and Luffy didn't know what that meant, but he was told to do it so he had to. He didn't want to be punished. What if they tried to hurt Ace and Sabo? They'd done it before when he hadn't listened, so he didn't doubt they'd do it again.

Luffy looked into the child's eyes and tried imagining him creating a bridge to them. He was only trying for a few seconds before the kid looked to be in pain, eyes closing and face scrunching up as he let out a groan. Luffy hesitated but continued, trying to ignore the emotions coming from the child.

The child let out a scream, nearly breaking Luffys concentration, but Haru urged him to continue so he did. The emotions coming from the boy were hard to ignore now, the terror and panic spiking along with the new feeling of pain bombarding him. Luffy pushed through it though, imagining the bridge finally being built, connecting to the child in front of him, and for a split second there was what looked to be a wave of gas replacing the imaginary bridge, but before Luffy could examine it, it disappeared, along with both the child's noises and their emotions.

Luffy sat there for a minute, confused. He had never felt someone's emotions completely leave, even if they were sleeping, but the boy was just suddenly... unfeeling. While Luffy wondered what happened a doctor came in, checking on the child before clicking their tongue, unstrapping them and leaving the room, dragging the child with them.

" _Terminated._ "

Luffy had heard the doctors say that word before and never really knew what it meant. When he asked Sabo he explained to him that it was when something came to an end, and after the fire, when he heard the doctors saying that all the kids were 'terminated' he knew. They had died.

The child had just died in front of his eyes.

Luffy's stomach dropped and his eyes widened in horror and shock. Had he just killed someone? He didn't want to! He didn't mean to! He wanted to run back to his cell, back to Ace and Sabo. He wanted out because he couldn't have just killed the child, he hadn't even touched him!

There was no getting out though as another doctor came in with another child and he was forced to repeat the same process he had before.

This one ended the same way, the child dying right before his eyes, and Luffy didn't know how much more he could handle. This happened over and over, new children being brought in every time, and Luffy was ready to stop, not wanting to keep doing this, but as the next child died and the new one came in Luffy was frozen in shock, fear beginning to cloud his mind completely.

"Again '097."

Haru's voice sounded distant and far away to Luffy, his mind focused on something much more important to him than following the doctors' orders.

"A-Ace?!" He couldn't do it. If he tried creating the bridge then Ace would die and he would never be able to forgive himself!

"Its ok Luffy, just do what he says." Ace said reassuringly, glaring daggers at the door where the doctor was leaving.

"B-but I can't! If I do y-you'll- you'll die! Like the others! A-ace I-I killed them!" Luffy said, tears coming quickly to his eyes, but as always, not falling. Aces glare fell, turning to look at Luffy.

"It wasn't your fault Lu, and besides, what have I always said, I won't die, not when I've gotta look after my weak little brother!" Ace said. Luffy still hesitated, despite his brothers' comforts.

"Y-you promise?" Luffy asked softly. Ace nodded.

"Promise." Ace said. Luffy still didn't want to do it, but Haru was ordering him to and Ace was telling him it was gonna be fine. Ace never lied, Ace was always right.

Luffy looked into Aces eyes and slowly began creating the bridge. As he did he noticed the noise of pain Ace made and nearly stopped until Haru told him not to. He was debating on whether or not to continue when Ace spoke up.

"Keep going Lu, I'm fine, just a little headache is all. Just focus on my emotions." Ace said, projecting as much warmth as he could at Luffy. Luffy relished in the feeling and nodded, continuing the process without stopping. Whenever Ace seemed to be in pain a feeling of happiness, of warmth, of love, radiated off of him and Luffy could continue. As he was finishing Luffy prepared for the worst, knowing this was when the others would be 'terminated'.

The wave of gas appeared, but instead of disappearing immediately it stayed. It was slightly transparent and red in color, coming from Aces chest and leading towards Luffy. The pain left Aces face and he watched Luffy in interest as Luffy examined the wave with large eyes.

"I-I... I did it! Ace, you're ok!" Luffy cheered happily, Ace smiled, ready to say something when a doctor came in, swapping him with another child and Luffy felt his apprehension return. Why did he have to keep going? He did it, so they should be done, right?

"Again."

The word sank Luffy's heart and he stared at the child, feeling their fear. He had done it with Ace, so maybe he could do it here too?

It didn't work.

He tried, he tried so hard, but the child's emotions left and so did the wave, the doctor announcing they were terminated as they switched the child out. The only solace Luffy had now was the red wave that he could still see, knowing that at the end of it, Ace was ok. It was weird, to see the wave. It went through the closed door and Luffy knew if he followed it he would find Ace.

His thoughts were interrupted once again as a doctor came in, Sabo in hand. It was his nightmare all over again.

"Hey, Lu," Sabo said with a sheepish smile. Luffy frowned. Maybe the time with Ace was only a one-time thing, maybe Sabo would die! The last child did, so maybe he didn't know how to use his powers.

"Again."

"Hey, Lu, it'll be fine, like Ace said, just focus on my emotions, ok?" Sabo asked gently. Luffy, not having much choice, swallowed hard and nodded. Sabo exuded the same warmth as Ace and it was comforting for Luffy as he did his best to ignore the pained sounds Sabo was making. As he finished connecting the bridge Luffy was amazed to find that it had worked for Sabo as well, but instead of red, his wave was a slightly transparent yellow.

"We're done for the day." Haru's voice filtered through the speakers and Luffy felt relieved that it was finally over, doctors coming in and unstrapping them both, taking them back to their cells. Luffy was right in thinking that Aces wave led back to him as they reached the cell, their brother waiting inside.

"Hey, welcome back!" Ace said with a smile.

Luffy wanted to smile as well, but he could only think of all the kids he had just killed.


	13. Let the Plans Commence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:
> 
> Ace, Sabo- 17
> 
> Luffy- 14

"Man, its been a while since we docked!" A man wearing a chefs outfit exclaims, stretching his arms, a smile on his face.

"We haven't been near any islands for a while, yoi." Another says, walking up beside the chef and lazily glancing around the small beach.

"Oh, Marco, so you actually decided to stop working and come have fun?" The chef asks, grinning at Marco. The man sighs, shaking his head.

"We're not here to have fun Thatch, we're here to restock and not get into any trouble," Marco says to the chef who pouts.

"But trouble is much more fun than no trouble at all." Thatch mumbles. He doesn't get a response as Marco looks around the beach more, noticing a path to the right and gesturing to it.

"That probably leads to a town. Did you send a group already, yoi?" Marco asks, the chef nodding in response. The two began making their way over to the path.

"Yeah, they left about an hour ago when we docked, should be there by now unless its further away than we thought," Thatch says, following closely behind Marco as they headed towards the path. It was quiet for a moment before Thatch spoke up again.

"This islands practically covered in trees." The chef notices, looking at all of the trees surrounding them.

"I heard there's only a small town on this island, the rest of it covered with forest, yoi," Marco says in a bored tone, closing his eyes as they walk. Thatch whistles.

"Who knows what's in those woods then, huh?" He says, more to himself seeing as Marco was focused more on getting to the town than the possibility of an adventure within the dense forest. When Marco didn't respond Thatch frowned before a smile lit up on his face

"Aren't you the least bit interested in what's out there?" Thatch presses, the smile on his face growing. Marco shrugs.

"Why would I? This is Paradise, yoi. Not to mention I've heard that the townspeople have looked and found nothing but trees." Marco says. Thatch sighs dramatically.

"But that, my feathery friend, is why you go exploring yourself! After all, why should we believe word of mouth? I say we go into the forest later!" Thatch exclaims. Marco shakes his head, though his lazy expression never changes.

"I've got too much paperwork, but you can go exploring all you want Thatch. Just know, if you get lost we're leaving without you, yoi." Marco says. Thatch pouts.

"Boring. You should lighten up! Have some fun!" Thatch prods, bumping shoulders with Marco who merely shakes his head in mild annoyance, but ignores Thatch none the less. Thatch huffs at this, crossing his arms.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

***Earlier***

This was it. They were finally going to try and escape.

The brothers had been planning, scrapping, replanning, and perfecting their escape for seven whole years. They had been trapped in hell for seven entire years, no one saving them, no one coming in to break them out, no one finding out the horrible things these people had done to children.

The brothers had been there for so long that they had quickly grown out of their clothes and the doctors had to give them new ones, but they were old, tattered, and just slightly too big for all of them. They didn't have shoes either, the doctors seeing no need in giving them any.

The last year had been the worst year of all. After the doctors practically forced Luffy to kill he had been traumatized, and no matter what the brothers did they hadn't seen him smile since. Luffy had locked himself away, sitting in the corner of the cell and not engaging with them for months. Eventually, he opened up again after the brothers constantly reassuring him that he hadn't killed the children, the doctors had. Even after they got him to start speaking again, they still hadn't gotten him to smile.

Sabo found out by listening to the doctors that they had done a series of tests on Luffy that they called the 'Pure Soul' tests. The first one, the one allowing Luffy to feel emotions and see memories, was allowing Luffy to open others' souls and see what made up a person. The second test, allowing Luffy to see colors around people, was Luffy actually seeing a soul, blue meaning the soul was nicer, purer, while black meant corrupted, evil. The final and worse test had been the waves, as Luffy called them. The last test allowed Luffy to connect his soul with another's, which they called bonding. The doctors had a theory that the reason it didn't work with the other children was because Luffy hadn't had time to get to know that person and their soul, but since he had grown up with his brothers it had worked.

After the doctors had done this to Luffy the elder two had vowed to get them out before they could do anything worse. Ace and Sabo were both 17 and if they didn't get out by the end of the year, all hope would probably be lost.

Going over the plan again for the hundredth time, Sabo felt apprehensive. Maybe they should wait a little longer so that they can make sure everything goes ok.

But they couldn't wait any longer. Not when, every time they saw Luffy, their heart broke in two.

'And then after that's done, Luffy, you have to get out, understand?' Sabo signed to Luffy, the three going over the plan once more. Luffy nodded, determination on his face as he gripped his hat tightly, placing it on his head for the first time in seven years. He could feel his brothers worry, both of them wanting the plan to work, and he was going to try as hard as he could to do the best he could and follow the instructions he had been given.

'Alright, now all we have to do is wait until breakfast.' Sabo signed, the three having gotten up earlier than normal to go over the plan.

'And remember Luffy, if, for some reason, we get split up, get out and don't talk to anyone! No matter what! Don't tell them your name, don't tell them about the facility, and definitely don't tell them about your devil fruit or any other powers the doctors gave you! Got it?" Ace asked sternly. They didn't know how many people knew about the facility, or them for that matter. Luffy nodded again.

It was a tense silence as they waited for the sounds of the food cart. All three of them felt anxiety pooling in their guts, nauseous. This plan had to work because if it didn't, they would never have another chance to try it again.

'Get ready.' Sabo signed, sitting up straighter. His brothers nodded, Ace moving closer to the cell door, Luffy beside him and Sabo on the end. It was nerve-wracking, listening to the cart get closer and closer as they stopped at every cell to hand out food. Finally, the cart reached their cell, going to the cell across from them before turning to theirs.

The plan was in action.

The second the cell was unlocked Ace jumped into action, using all the tests those doctors had performed on him to his advantage as, even with seastone, he flared his fire up, shocking the doctor as he slammed his cuffed fists on the man's head, catching him before he fell.

After the brothers found that Ace and Luffy could slightly use their powers even with seastone they had practiced until Ace was strong enough to create that burst. It left him tired and unable to use his fire anymore, but it was enough.

Luffy ran out behind Ace, Sabo close behind. The blond brother grabbed the set of keys from the doctor and the three booked it to the end of the hallway. Everything after this was unfamiliar territory, even if they had a map, which Sabo was also carrying. Sabo tried keys quickly, flipping through key after key until the door unlocked, thanking the stars that, even though confused, the children in their cells weren't making much noise about what was happening.

They flung open the door, Ace in front and Sabo and Luffy holding onto his shirt. Emily had been right, the halls were completely pitch black.

"Ok, there's only one door in here Ace!" Sabo whisper shouted. Ace nodded, seeing the door as clear as if the light was on, moving briskly to it and pushing it open.

"Don't go in the right door, go straight," Sabo said from memory. He had gone over the path they needed to go through a million times over. Ace, ignoring the door on his right, went towards the one straight ahead and opened it, entering another hall. There was only one door here so Ace moved without waiting for Sabo to say anything. As they entered the next room Sabo wasn't able to say anything when there was a blaring noise, hurting his ears.

An alarm had been sounded.

He could hear people running their way and cursed to himself, shoving the map and keys into Aces hands. He was the only one who could see the map anyways.

"Straight!" Sabo shouted over the noise, the three running quickly through the door, footsteps even closer now. The room was quickly filled with people and they were ready to fight, all three using their heightened senses to their advantage. They got a few doctors and who they assumed to be guards down, but more came in.

"Go! I'll catch up! You've got the map Ace!" Sabo shouted, pushing his two brothers ahead. Luffy was ready to protest but Ace nodded, grabbing Luffy and running.

"Wait, Sabo! Ace, we have to help Sabo, what're you doing?!" Luffy shouted as Ace pushed through another door, fighting off as many guards as he could in the meanwhile, Luffy helping. It was a lot harder to fight when their hands were cuffed and the sea stone made them more sluggish than usual.

"He'll be fine Luffy, trust me, ok?!" Ace shouted over all the noise. Luffy was going to argue more, ready to tell his older brother how wrong he was, but he could feel the worry rolling off of Ace in waves, stopping his argument. Obviously, something was happening that Luffy didn't understand. Even though he wanted to go back and help Sabo something told him to keep going. If Ace wanted him to he obviously had a plan, maybe they would come back for Sabo later.

"Ok..." Luffy said softly, Ace pushing through more guards and through yet another door.

Unbeknownst to Luffy, the older brothers hadn't actually planned on them getting out.

There was no way the three would be able to take down all the guards, especially when two of them were cuffed, so, without Luffys knowledge, they planned on getting Luffy out, and if they could, themselves. As long as Luffy was free, they'd be happy.

When Ace focused back on the fighting it was evident to him that they weren't going to get much further, Ace being overwhelmed by guards quickly.

"Luffy, remember this ok?!" Ace shouted to his brother, the two back to back. Luffy nodded, confused, but listening.

"Go right, straight, left, straight, and then keep going straight until you reach the stairs! Then go out the big doors, alright?!" Ace shouted, confusing Luffy more. Why did he need to go? What about Ace?

"Right, straight, left, straight Luffy!" Ace shouted, and the youngest sputtered, nodding.

"Right, straight, left, straight!" Luffy repeated, and suddenly something was shoved into his hands as he was pushed through a door, hearing it slam behind him. He was confused, disoriented, and now completely in the dark, both figuratively and literally, in an empty hallway. It only took him seconds to figure out what Ace had done, but no matter how much he wanted to turn around and help his brother he had to get out.

He would get out and they'd be right behind him, right? If not, Luffy was going to come back and save them, no matter how much they protested, because they were brothers! Maybe Ace was going back to get Sabo! Maybe, when he got out, they would be right there with him again!

Fighting back tears Luffy repeated like a mantra the directions Ace had told him.

"Right, straight, left, straight!" He muttered to himself, holding his hands out in front of him and running blindly to his right until he hit a wall, feeling blindly along it until he felt a door. He opened it, running in quickly and rushing forward, doing the same as he'd done before. Apparently all of the gaurds had crowded themselves in the previous rooms because he wasn't meeting anyone now. He could hear the sounds of a fight still going on, and doors were opened, slamming against the wall, giving Luffy the idea that they were running after him, only making the adrenaline in him pump faster.

"Right, straight, left, straight!" Luffy said again, not smelling anyone coming his way, only those behind him. He found the next door, hoping he was going the right way as he pushed into the next hallway. All he needed to do now was go straight, and he did. What had Ace said next? Go straight to the stairs? Luffy sure hoped so as he charged blindly forward, pushing open a door, and then another, and then-

Light.

It was dim, but it just barely lit up the stairs in front of him. He felt light and jumpy, adrenaline pumping in him and making everything seem to move in a blur as he stumbled as quickly as he could up the stairs. He could hear the people getting closer behind him, smell them too, but he was so close, he was almost out!

His heart was pumping faster than it ever had before. When he finally got up the stairs he opened the door at the top and nearly froze at all the guards that spun to look at him.

_"Gear Second."_

He wasn't going to mess the plan up. His body became red, steam pouring off him as he used his little bit of energy to use his gear. He could see the giant glass doors Emily had always told them about, right there, sunlight pouring through them.

As the guards rushed towards him Luffy disappeared, pushing the doors open and using his speed to run through a forest that was surrounding the outside of the facility.

Where was he going? What was he going to do now? Luffy had no clue, always assuming his brothers would be here with him when he got out so they could all leave together, but they were in there and he was out here.

He didn't know how far he ran, but after a minute his gear ended, the seastone completely taking over now as he felt weakened. Maybe Ace and Sabo were running behind? Maybe if he waited they would come running after him.

Luffy stopped to take a breath, glancing around for somewhere he could hide. He didn't know if the doctors were following him or not, but he wasn't going to take any chances. The only thing around him was trees so he decided to hide behind one, kneeling on the ground and trying to catch his breath. He made sure to focus on his sense of smell in case anyone was chasing him and looked at what Ace had shoved into his hand earlier. He hadn't been able to see it before, but now as he opened his palm he saw the keys Sabo had used to open the cell hall door.

Maybe one of them would work on his cuffs!

Luffy awkwardly fiddled with the keys, having a hard time twisting and turning them to fit into the keyhole on his cuffs, tongue sticking out in concentration. After a few failed attempts he managed to find the right key, twisting it in the lock and removing one cuff. A feeling of elation filled him and he quickly unlocked the other, removing the cuffs and throwing them as hard as he could in a random direction.

He could feel all of his energy returning now that the seastone was gone and decided to look for Ace and Sabo's waves. He had noticed a while ago that the wave was related to the brothers' health, getting more transparent when they were sick and more opaque when they were healthy. He found the red and yellow wave quickly, leading back towards the facility, but it wasn't as opaque as it had been minutes ago, it was more transparent then he had ever seen them.

What was he gonna do?! His brothers were probably caught, and who knew what Haru would do to them! Panic filled Luffy as he tried desperately to think of what to do. He couldn't just run back in there, he would get caught, but he had to get them out, and all the other kids too, he had promised Emily! And then Luffy stood up straighter.

He smelled someone.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Come on Marco, there's gotta be something else on this island! It's huge!"

"For the last time Thatch, there isn't, there's only the town, yoi."

"Well have you checked?"

"I've already told you I haven-"

"Then we should go look! Come on, don't be such a party pooper!"

The two pirates were walking down the same path that they had been earlier, only this time they were returning from the town. The group Thatch had sent ahead earlier had gotten everything they needed so they were able to relax and do some window shopping, in the end not buying anything. They were surrounded by trees on either side of them and Thatch was still persistent in getting Marco to go exploring with him.

It wasn't going too well.

"We're supposed to be getting ready to leave soon, yoi, not exploring the forest like kids," Marco said, a bored look in his tone and on his face. Thatch pouted, crossing his arms.

"Well, maybe you should lighten up and try being a bit more like a kid." Thatch said. Marco had to contain his annoyance.

"Were pirates, not kids."

"I know that but-"

Thatch cut himself off as he suddenly felt something moving towards them at a very fast speed. Marco must have noticed it too because he was facing the trees, looking in the direction of where the thing was coming from.

"Animal?" Thatch asked, trying to read whatever the thing was. It would make sense that it was an animal with how fast it was moving and the fact that it was in the never-ending trees.

"No, I don't think so, it seems more like a person, yoi," Marco said with narrowed eyes, the two slipping into battle stances.

"If it is its one fast person."


	14. Freedom At Last?

He needed help. He had to get help. He had to help his brothers. He had to help the children! He promised, he couldn't break his promise! If he didn't have his brothers, what was the point of freedom?! They were supposed to be free together!

Luffy ran as fast as he possibly could using the energy he had gotten from removing the seastone. Trees flew past him in a blur, twigs scratching his arms and legs. He was tripping over roots and rocks, but he ignored that, following the scent of the people.

Maybe he shouldn't be doing this. Maybe he should find out how to get them out on his own. What if these people locked him back up in the facility? What if they were more doctors? Or guards?

There was no backing out of the plan though, because Luffy suddenly crashed through the trees, nearly running down the two he was after.

"Hey, woah there!"

Luffy looked up at the man with big hair, huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath.

"You ok kid? You don't look so good." Big hair gave him a look and Luffy gulped, backing away from the two. They didn't look like doctors, but he hadn't really gotten a good look at what the guards looked like, so maybe they were them, going to take him back.

"Do you need help, yoi? You lost?" The one beside big hair spoke. What was he going to do? He promised Ace he wouldn't talk to anyone, but he really needed help! What if they were bad though? What if they hurt him, or his brothers?

Luffy suddenly had an idea, tearing down one of his many mental walls.

The colors that he could see around people popped up, both of the colors around the two being blue.

That was good, right? None of the doctors at the facility had been blue, all of them had been gray or black, so he could trust these guys to help, right? There wasn't much choice, so Luffy swallowed, silently apologizing to Ace.

"Do you think he can talk Marco?" Big hair asked after Luffy remained silent. Luffy searched for the man's emotions, finding no darkness, only concern. He did the same to 'Marco' as big hair called him and found the same thing.

They had to be good people! They weren't going to hurt him!

Luffy looked to Thatch, answering the question he had asked his friend with a shake of his head. He wasn't going to talk like he promised Ace, but he _was_ going to get their help.

"Well, that makes things harder..." Thatch mumbled. Luffy hesitated. How was he going to get their help if he couldn't talk? He didn't have much time to think so he grabbed big hairs sleeve, pulling him back towards the way he came, pleading in his eyes as he looked at the man.

"Woah, where are we going? Aw man, how does this stuff happen to me?!" Big hair asked as Luffy dragged him through the forest, Marco following closely behind.

"Can you tell us anything, yoi?" Marco asked. Luffy thought, still running as he did. He turned to the man, hoping he could read lips.

'Help!'

The two gave him a confused look and he repeated the word a few times.

"Help?" Marco asked, and Luffy nodded quickly.

"What do you need help with, are you lost?" Big hair asked. Luffy shook his head. He may not know where in the world he was, but that wasn't his priority right now.

'Brothers!'

He mouthed the word a few times, waiting for the two to understand.

"Brothers? Your brothers need help?" Marco asked, Luffy nodding that he was correct.

'Bad people.'

Luffy was hoping the two would get the two words. It took them a little longer but they got it.

"Bad! That's the first word, right?" Big hair asked proudly as Luffy nodded.

"Ok, bad what? Bad... pete? Bad... pimple? Bad..."

"Bad people, yoi?" Marco asked, Thatch, pouting at him as Luffy nodded.

"Aw, come on Marco I almost had that one!" Big hair whined while Marco rolled his eyes.

"It's not a game Thatch," Marco said. Thatch. So that was big hairs name.

"So bad people have your brothers and they need help," Marco concluded, Luffy nodding again.

"Well, if that's the case, we'll definitely help you out kiddo! Promise!" Thatch said with a smile as the trees thinned. Luffy looked at the man, wondering if he would keep that promise. The straw-hatted boy watched as the facility came into view, and he nearly froze as they got closer. He was about to willingly enter the hell he had gone through for seven years.

"What is this place, yoi?" Marco asked.

"HA! I told you there was something on this island!" Thatch shouted. Luffy stayed silent, fear in his eyes as he glanced at the building. Prying his gaze away he looked at the two, mouthing another word.

'Basement.'

As the two slowly understood the word they walked closer.

"Oh, basement, they're in the basement?" Thatch asked, Luffy nodding.

"Alright, let's go save your brothers!" Thatch shouted happily, filling Luffy with hope. Maybe this would work.

His body went numb as they pushed open the big glass doors, nausea filling him instantly. He hadn't really looked at the room when he escaped, but as he did now, he felt confused.

The wall was covered in painted clouds and animals in light, pastel colors. The floor was a familiar pure white and there were two couches beside the doors on either side with tables beside them. Colorful rugs covered the floor and in the corner, there was a bunch of toys for kids. In front of the doors, there was a desk with a woman sitting behind it, smiling warmly to them, but Luffy could feel the darkness creeping off of her, only making his nausea worse.

"Ah, you've brought our patient back!" She said cheerily, pressing a button on the desk. Marco and Thatch shared a confused look as the woman continued smiling.

"He escaped just recently, had everyone in a panic! In just a moment Doctor- ah, here he is!" Luffy felt his blood go cold as he swallowed heavily. Out of a door behind the desk, Haru emerged, an unsettlingly calm smile on his face.

"There you are! Everyone was worried about you-you know!" Haru said, walking up to Luffy and kneeling in front of him. Luffy backed away, trying to get closer to Thatch and Marco who were still confused.

"What's happening?" Thatch asked, noticing Luffy's fear, Marco too. Haru looked away from Luffy, standing to look at Marco and Thatch.

"You, my friends, just found yourself an escapee!" Haru said cheerfully.

"An escapee, yoi?" Marco asked. Haru nodded.

"That's correct. You see, this is a hospital for children with mental problems. Our friend here has very serious issues that we try and take care of. He's highly delusional and sometimes dangerous. Just today he took down ten guards during one of his delusions and ran out before we could get him!" Haru said, and Luffy could only stare in shock. He wasn't delu- deludi- delly- whatever the word was!

"I see," Marco said slowly, looking at Luffy who looked back, pleading in his eyes.

"Mhm, now, I must get him back to his room before he becomes dangerous again. Thank you for returning him!" Haru said, grabbing Luffys hand and pulling. Luffy tried to fight back, but it didn't work.

"Can we come with you, to make sure he gets back safely?" Thatch asked, Luffy giving them more pleading looks, terror in his eyes.

"That won't be necessary, besides, he needs to go take his medicine, he'll be a little out of it," Haru said, basically dragging Luffy to the basement door.

'Help!'

Luffy mouthed the word as much as he could, hoping the two would help him, keep Haru from taking him back into the basement. They seemed to understand it, Thatch giving Marco a look. Marco, who was frowning, sighed, shook his head and muttered something before running up to Haru, kicking him to the side and forcing the man to let go of Luffy.

"Alright! Seems we're doing this then!" Thatch said in excitement as the woman at the desk gasped, pressing a button. Within moments the alarm was ringing again.

"Ok kid now's a good time to take us to your brothers! You better not be delusional like that doctor guy said!" Thatch shouted, Luffy practically crying in relief. They were helping! They would be free! Luffy beamed at the two, nodding, and quickly flung the basement door open, grabbing both their hands and rushing down the stairs, into the dark labyrinth.

"Woah, it sure is dark down here!" Thatch said. Before anyone could say anything more on the subject a blue light flared and Marco's hand was covered in blue flames, lighting the room.

"Better, yoi? Do you know where your going kid?" Marco asked. Luffy nodded, ignoring his awe at the flames, and began running to the door in front of him, the two following close behind. All he had to do was follow Ace and Sabo's waves! They would lead him back to his brothers!

"It's like a maze in here." Thatch said in awe as Luffy pushed door after door open. Then he smelled it, guards behind the next door. He backed away from it, Thatch and Marco giving him a look.

"What's wrong?" Marco asked, both watching as Luffy lowered into a fighting stance.

"Ah, a fight, that's what all those people are then, huh?" Thatch asked, having sensed the people behind the door. It was flung open, guards rushing in, and Luffy didn't even have to worry about fighting as he watched Marco and Thatch charge ahead, knocking down every guard in their path with ease until they were all down.

"Let's go, kid," Marco said, Luffy watching in awe before nodding. He ran ahead again, following the waves, and after fighting another group of guards they were at the cell hall door. Luffy jiggled the knob, but it wouldn't open. It was locked again.

"Watch out, I got it yoi," Marco said, moving forward and kicking the door down. Luffy felt a rush of adrenaline as he ran into the cell hall, looking down and seeing the wave leading all the way to the end where their cell was.

"What the hell..." Thatch said in disbelief as he looked at all the cages. Luffy ignored him and bolted down the hallway, nearly crashing into the wall from his momentum.

"Is that 11097?"

"Did he get caught?"

"Hey, '097, let us out too!"

Luffy ignored the children calling his number, opting for getting to his brothers.

"11097? Is that the kid?" Thatch asked Marco, who only shrugged. They looked at the children in cells, gripping the bars with pleading eyes. What the hell was happening in here? Luffy waved his hands, needing Marco and Thatch to get the cell open for him. He could see Ace and Sabo in the back of it, but they looked unconscious which only made Luffy more worried.

"These your brothers, yoi?" Marco asked, peering into the cell. Luffy nodded quickly, wishing they would open the cell faster.

"I'll open the cell and then go get some more help. Thatch, find some keys and get everyone else out." Marco ordered Thatch, giving a nod of affirmation. Luffy decided not to mention the set of keys he had. He needed to get Aces cuffs off before they found out he had a devil fruit. Ace had been adamant about keeping things secret, and he would make sure he did just that.

There was a blast of blue flames, shocking Luffy momentarily until he noticed that the cell was now open. Marco and Thatch both ran back down the hall, but Luffy didn't mind as he rushed over to his brothers, shaking their shoulders.

"Ace! Sabo! Wake up! _Wake up!_ " Luffy yelled in a whisper. He didn't want Thatch and Marco to know he could talk, not until his brothers were up and told him it was ok. He may have dubbed them as good people, but what if they turned on them now that they saw what was happening here? What if they ended up wanting to test on them too?

But they had kept their promise, so they weren't bad, right? Luffy wasn't going to risk it.

"Come on! We can go and we can be free and we can keep our promise to Emily!" Luffy urged as he unlocked Aces cuffs, throwing them into the corner, hoping his brothers would open their eyes. They weren't dead, he knew that much. He could still feel emotions coming off of them and he could still see their waves, even if they were fainter than normal. The two remained motionless though, only their chests moving as they breathed. Luffy fell silent, worry filling him.

He could hear Thatch running back in the hallway, sounds of fighting, cells unlocking, and children escaping. Luffy ignored it all though, staring at his brothers, shaking them every few seconds. He didn't dare speak anymore, fear that someone would hear him overwhelming him, pushed on further by the fear that there was something wrong with his brothers.

"Hey, kid?" A familiar voice spoke behind him but he ignored it, shaking his brothers' shoulders.

"Kid, come on, we're getting you all out of here. We can take your brothers to our doctors, they'll help them." At the word doctor, Luffy's heart dropped, spinning to face the man with wide eyes. Thatch wasn't the only one there, two others were as well, one that looked like a lady but wasn't, and another one who was really big.

They had doctors too? Then they weren't really good guys after all?! Luffy felt terror take form, his breathing quickening as he backed away from them.

They were almost free, they couldn't be caught again! They couldn't go back to more doctors! Doctors hurt them, and fed them horrible food, and left them in dark cold cells, and they were mean, and Luffy definitely did not want to see any more of them!

"Woah, hey, calm down, what's wrong?" Thatch asked, raising his hands in the air. Luffy wanted to scream at them, but now he knew they were bad so he couldn't let them know he could talk, they would try and hurt him more! Ace said not to talk to people, and now Ace and Sabo were both sleeping, and they wouldn't wake up!

Luffy was practically hyperventilating.

"Its ok we're not going to hurt you," Thatch said, voice steady and calm. They had kept their promise before, so they had to be good people, but they had doctors, so they had to be bad people! The conflicting thoughts made Luffy's head hurt.

Without warning, Thatch took a step forward and Luffy flipped.

They were going to take them away! He might get separated from his brothers! He couldn't let that happen!

Luffy didn't know what happened, but suddenly everything turned a weird shade of blue, the world freezing for a moment, and then Thatch and the two others were stumbling back a bit, looking like they were in pain.

"D-did that kid just-?" Lady, yet not lady, started talking, shaking Luffy from whatever had just happened as he grabbed Ace and Sabo's arms, pulling them closer to him.

"Yeah, and it was damn strong too!" The other really big guy said, giving Luffy a look.

"I don't really know what's going on kid, but trust me, we're not gonna hurt you, your brothers, or any of the other kids. We're gonna get them help. Promise." Thatch said, getting over whatever had happened. Luffy hesitated. He sounded sincere, and when Luffy focused on him his emotions felt only sincerness, no traces of darkness in them.

But if he was good, why would he take them to doctors? Did he not know how bad they were? That they had done this to the brothers?

Luffy was like a cornered animal, trapped and afraid, only wondering how they were going to escape the mess they were in. Thatch seemed genuine, but there were doctors where he wanted to go so they couldn't be good!

"I don't know what I can say or do to get you to trust me, but from the looks of it your brothers really need some help, and I can get that for them, you just have to come with us." Thatch said, his voice going soft, eyebrows slanted in worry. Luffy watched the man with apprehension, glancing at his brothers who still hadn't woken up, their waves more transparent than they had been before.

Biting his lip and fighting the tears Luffy looked at Thatch again, nodding slowly. The man sighed in relief, but moved slowly, hands still up as he grew closer. Luffy was practically trembling in fear, wondering what he'd just agreed to. Ace was going to kill him when he woke up.

"I'm not gonna hurt 'em, promise, I'm just gonna carry one, Jozu, the big guy there, can carry the other. Can you make it back to the ship? You look pretty tired." Thatch said. Luffy nodded, getting to his feet shakily, watching Thatch's every move as he bent down to pick Ace up, Jozu coming over and grabbing Sabo.

The straw-hatted boy's heart rate increased at seeing his brothers now at the mercy of these strangers. He was hoping he'd made the right decision as he followed the two out of the cell. The hall was completely deserted, all the cell doors opened and the cells themselves empty of any children.

"I'm Izo." Luffy was shocked out of his musings as he turned to look at lady-not-lady who was walking beside him, giving him a small smile. Luffy searched their emotions, not finding anything bad, so he waved to them, giving them a wary smile in return.

The group continued to make their way out of the facility, Luffy taking note of the many doctors and guards who laid unconscious on the ground.

"Damn it, I almost forgot, now we have to get out of this damn maze!" Thatch cursed as they came to the first set of doors.

"You didn't leave any hints?" Jozu asked incredulously, glancing at the doors.

"I didn't exactly have much time to leave breadcrumbs!" Thatch whined in self-defense. Luffy looked at the two doors, remembering when he escaped this morning with Sabo. Without interrupting the two who were arguing Luffy walked to the door in front of them, opening it and walking through it.

Izo, seeing this, smiled and followed the young teen, leaving the two arguing in the room behind them.

"Seems you know the way out, huh?" Izo asked, laughing a little. Luffy, still highly uncomfortable but feeling the amusement rolling off the lady-not-lady, smiled back a little, nodding.

"-Besides, why didn't _you_ leave breadcrumbs?! Izo, tell him-... Izo?" Thatch finally noticed they had been left behind, seeing his brother and the boy in a straw hat passing through another door in the next room.

"Wait for us!" Thatch shouted, running after the two, Jozu following and grumbling all the meanwhile. After the two caught back up Luffy led them through the maze, remembering every turn they made. When they reached the stairs Thatch cheered.

"Finally, we're out of that horrible darkness!" Thatch said happily. They had been using a lighter that Thatch had had in his pocket to see, but now that they were out Izo, who had been holding it, closed it, placing it back in the chefs pocket.

"Yes Thatch, we're out, now let's get back to the Moby, we don't have all day," Izo said, glancing at Ace and Sabo. Luffy did the same and noticed with slight fear that the wave hadn't stopped in getting more transparent. They were getting worse.

"Alright, alright, come on, it shouldn't take too long if we hurry," Thatch said, the group heading back in a brisk walk, Luffy doing his best to keep up.

"You know, I'm sure Jozu wouldn't mind giving you a ride if you wanted, you look tired," Izo said to Luffy who only shook his head in response. He wanted to at least be able to fight on his own terms if it came to it. Izo sighed, but nodded as well, focusing back on Thatch and Jozu who were in the middle of talking about who knew what.

"Almost there now," Jozu said when they reached the path leading to the beach. Thatch smiled brightly.

"I'm gonna have a lot of cooking to do today! I wonder what I should start with? Maybe a broth? I'm sure Whiskey'll tell me when we get there. They must have looked over the other kids by now." Thatch rambled, more to himself than to the group.

Luffys uneasiness only increased the closer they got to the beach. Soon, he was going to have to decide if he really did trust these people to help them, or try and fight them and somehow get away with his brothers.

"There it is, the Moby Dick!"


	15. Check-Ups and Smelling Salts

"There it is, the Moby Dick!" Thatch exclaimed, more for Luffy than anyone else.

Luffy gazed at the giant ship in amazement. It had a giant whale head in the front and the masts were taller than Luffy would have ever imagined any mast to ever be. He had always wanted to be a pirate, all of them had, but when they had been caught their dreams were put on hold in favor of escaping. Luffy remembered all the stories Sabo would tell him of pirates, but seeing the giant ship in real life was so much cooler than Luffy imagined it to be.

Wait, were these guys pirates?

There was a black flag raised high into the sky, Luffy just barely able to make out the skull and crossbones if he squinted. So they were pirates? Were they bad pirates like Bluejam, or nice ones like in Sabo's stories? And if they were pirates why did they have doctors? Doctors hurt people, so wouldn't that mean these pirates were bad?

The confusing thoughts made Luffy pause, Thatch and Jozu already heading up the gangplank that was set out for easy access onto the boat. Izo, who had been at Luffy's side the entire time, noticed the boys pause and stayed behind with him.

"It's a little overwhelming to see, is it not?" Izo asked, assuming the boy was amazed by the boat or finally figuring out they were pirates. Luffy snapped out of his conflicting thoughts and turned to look at lady-not-lady, giving them a look that Izo couldn't quite read.

What did they say? Luffy hadn't been paying attention so he nodded, hoping he didn't get in trouble for it.

"Well that's alright, you get used to it. Moby's big, but that makes it nicer to sail on. There are lots of places to go." Izo said, starting to move towards the gangplank as well, Thatch and Jozu just making it onto the ships deck.

"Come on, I'm sure you want to be with your brothers, right?" Izo questioned with a raised eyebrow. Luffy hesitated once more but noticed that there was no getting out of it now so he slowly made his way up the plank, hoping he didn't do anything wrong while he waited for Ace and Sabo to wake up. The two walked onto the deck, Luffy amazed by the giant expanse of space that there was and the number of people as well. It made Luffy even more nervous, shifting from foot to foot restlessly when all eyes turned on him. He didn't like all the attention, what if they tried to hurt him? What if they pulled out needles and seastone and tried trapping him again?

"Alright everyone, let's not scare him off," Izo said with a pointed look, everyone who was staring openly going back to what they were doing.

"Izo, I see you've found the kid." Luffy watched as a familiar blonde made his way over to them.

"That I did Marco, poor thing, he was terrified when Thatch, Jozu and I got to him. We're heading to see Whiskey and the others about his brothers." Izo said, looking at Luffy who was getting nervous again. He could feel Ace and Sabo getting further away, their waves stretching away from him, and he didn't like it. He wanted to be with them now.

"I'll come with you, yoi. I've gotta talk to Whiskey anyways to give Oyaji a report." Marco said, the three beginning to make their way into the ship. When they were in a hallway Luffy practically sighed in relief, the feeling of being overcrowded slowly going away.

"Do you know how many kids there were?" Izo asked, the two ignoring Luffy for now, which the boy was thankful for as he listened in on the conversation. He wasn't as smart as Ace or Sabo but he picked up on a few things the two always did, like listen to the doctors whenever they talked.

"I haven't gotten a count yet, but from what I saw there was at least 30, yoi," Marco said, the two glancing at Luffy. Izo frowned, wondering what that place had been and why so many kids had been locked in cells. They reached their destination shortly after the comment, Izo gesturing to the door.

"Your brothers are in there and I'm sure Thatch is still there as well. Jozu's probably gone by now though." Izo explained, he and Marco watching the boys reactions carefully. Luffy, apprehension clear on his face, nodded. He could smell the smells of antiseptic and alcohol, his nerves jumping faster at the familiar smell. He was twitchy, and he definitely didn't want to go in there, but Ace and Sabo were in there, so he should go too! The door opened, Marco having done it after seeing the boys expression, and Luffy peeked inside, not moving from his spot.

All the kids from the facility were laying on beds, tubes, and masks covering some of them, others merely laying silently, or sleeping. The room was certainly different from the lab, the whole room made of wood, but what was attached to the other kids? Were they doing tests? People who Luffy assumed to be doctors were milling around the room. They wore pink dresses and leopard print boots, which definitely wasn't what the other doctors had been wearing, but they were fiddling with the children's tubes and masks, taking notes on familiar clipboards.

So they were doctors! Or maybe they were nurses, those people who helped the doctors? The facility had had a few people the doctors would call nurses, and all Luffy knew about them was that they helped the doctors do tests. So were these guys helping doctors? Doing tests for them?

"Go on, I'm pretty sure they're the ones in the back." Izo urged softly, pointing to the back of the room to a couple of beds. In them lay his brothers, both covered in tubes and both wearing masks, concerning Luffy. What was happening to them? Taking a quick glance at all the nurses again Luffy took a hesitant step into the room, some of the kids noticing and watching him as he did. Marco and Izo were watching him, ready to follow, and none of the nurses had paid him any mind. Yet that is.

Luffy walked quickly to the back to his brothers, doing his best to ignore everyone else. There was a nurse at their beds, looking over her clipboard and looking at the tubes connecting to them.

"Whiskey, this is the brother, the one that found me and Thatch, yoi," Marco spoke behind him suddenly, making him jump as Whiskey spun to look at them.

"Oh? Alright kid, get into the bed so I can give you a check-up." Whiskey said gently, gesturing to the bed that was beside Ace. Luffy felt his fear returning at full speed. Check-up? Was she gonna do tests?

"Its alright kid, shes just going to help," Izo said, reassuringly. Luffy glanced quickly between the two. If he didn't listen and they fought against him there was no way he could escape. Maybe he should go along with it until Ace and Sabo woke up, then they could escape together. He just had to listen and be good so that they wouldn't hurt him before his brothers woke up.

With a new resolve, Luffy made his way to the bed, sitting on it gently. It felt amazing. He had never sat on an actual bed in his entire life, and half of his life he had been sitting on a concrete floor, strapped to a metal table, or strapped to a wooden chair, all of those being highly uncomfortable. When he looked up Whiskey was pulling a stool over in front of him, wheels on the bottom of it.

"We'll start off easy, what's your name?" She asked. Luffy hesitated, opening his mouth, but closing it. Before anyone could explain that Luffy was 'mute' the door opened, Thatch coming in with something in his hand, a smile on his face.

"Hey Whiskey, I got it!" Thatch said, walking up to them and handing the something over to the nurse.

"Thank you, Thatch, but that'll have to wait until after his check-up." Whiskey said, pointing her pencil in Luffy's direction, the boy shifting nervously on the bed.

"Ah, hey there kid!" Thatch said, waving happily. Luffy hesitated but waved back.

"So, back to the question, name?" Whiskey asked.

"He's mute, yoi," Marco said, he and Izo standing beside Thatch, interested in Luffy. Whiskey raised an eyebrow.

"A mute, huh? Alright then, can you write?" She asked. Luffy frowned. He could write, but if he admitted that then they would make him write everything down, and then there was no point in lying at all about the fact that he couldn't speak. Luffy shook his head no, the others frowning at the answer.

"How was he able to get your attention?" Whiskey asked, scribbling notes down.

"He used a lot of gestures and mouthed a lot of words, me and Marco guessed what he was trying to tell us." Thatch said with a shrug. Another nod from the nurse.

"Well, if that's the case, do you have a number? Like the other children?" Whiskey asked, the others raising an eyebrow at the question.

"A number, yoi?" Marco asked. Whiskey nodded, gesturing to all the other kids.

"That's right. Everyone here has a number tattooed on the inside of their wrists, all beginning with 110." She explained.

"Do you have one, then?" Izo asked Luffy, the boy fidgeting a bit more at the attention. It wouldn't hurt to show it to them, right? Besides, the nurse knew about the other kids' numbers, so it was inevitable that she would find his.

Luffy nodded to them, holding out his arm and flipping his wrist up, showing the black numbers forever etched into his skin.

"11097? Well, we can call you Seven if you want, you know, instead of kid." Whiskey suggested. Luffy saw no issue with that so nodded his agreement, placing his arm back at his side.

"Alright, next question, seeing as you can't speak that'll make things harder, but we'll manage. How old are you? Older than 10?" Whiskey asked. Again, Luffy wanted to hide in a hole, but he couldn't _not_ answer, what if they hurt him? What if they took his brothers away like Haru always threatened to do if he didn't listen? The only good thing about answering was that, if they knew his age, maybe they would underestimate him.

Luffy nodded.

"Ok, higher than 10, is it higher than 15?" She asked. Luffy shook his head.

"Ok, lower. Higher than 13?" She asked. Luffy nodded.

"14?" She asked. Luffy nodded, Whiskey writing more stuff down.

"You're 14?! I thought you were ten!" Thatch said in shock. Luffy pouted, looking at the ground. It wasn't his fault he was short, they didn't give him a lot of meat in the facility!

"Thatch." Whiskey said in a warning tone. Thatch, noticing Luffy's expression, frowned.

"Ah, sorry, I mean, there's nothing wrong with it! You'll look youthful even when your 70!" Thatch rambled, trying to rectify the situation. Izo sighed.

"Shut up Thatch," Lady-not-lady mumbled. Thatch laughed sheepishly but stopped talking.

"So you're 14. I'm going to give you a quick look over ok? No need to be afraid." Whiskey said calmly. She had been in charge of overseeing the other kids check-ups and all of them had freaked when a nurse got close enough to try. She had a feeling Luffy would be no different.

She was right when the second she stood up, Luffy scrambled backward onto the bed. He hadn't meant to do it, especially after he promised himself he would cooperate, but it was a habit.

"Don't worry, I'm just checking to see how healthy you are." She said softly, the others watching carefully, ready if Luffy suddenly attacked. They had seen him ready to fight before, and Izo and Thatch had experienced the kids strong haki.

Luffy did his best to sit still as Whiskey looked him over, relieved when she didn't prick him with a needle or poke at him with the weird sharp metal things. Luffy took the time to focus on her emotions, finding no darkness, only calm, peaceful, and concentrated feelings coming from the nurse. When the exam was over Whiskey sighed, sitting back on her stool.

"Good news and bad news." Whiskey said, turning to the three observers.

"Good news first, yoi," Marco said, crossing his arms. Whiskey nodded.

"Well, the good news is that he should be fine within a week, two at most. From what I could see there aren't many injuries at all, only spots that indicate that someones been injecting him with something, and multiple marks that show he was probably burned that will scar, but that's the same with every child in this room. Bad news, if I'm right, he's been drugged up five ways to Sunday." Whiskey stated a slight edge in her tone. She couldn't believe that anyone would do this to a person, kids much less!

"What makes you say they were drugged, yoi?" Marco asked, his bored and tired look changing to a mildly interested one. Whiskey frowns.

"Well, that's easy. There are the puncture marks as I've already mentioned, but there's also the fact that every child in here hates even the thought of a needle going near them, as well as when examining one child, they practically begged us not to give them any more shots." Whiskey explained, glancing at all the kids.

"There's one more thing that has me a bit confused though." Whiskey began.

"What is it?" Izo asked, looking at the brothers. Whiskey frowned.

"The thing is, everyone is malnourished, all the kids practically skin and bone, but these three have muscle." Whiskey said. Marco seemed to understand already, along with Izo, but Thatch still looked confused.

"So?" Thatch asked, Whiskey sighing.

" _So_ , that means that they were somehow gaining muscle even when starving. It also means they were getting the muscle after being in that place. If that muscle had been from before they arrived it would have deteriorated the second they started starving." Whiskey explained, Thatch finally understanding.

"Maybe they were... I don't know... training?" Thatch suggested weakly, but not believing it himself. It didn't look like that place had a workout room for them to train in after all.

Meanwhile, Luffy, thinking the adults were more focused on their conversation, moved around the front of Aces bed to stand in between both Ace and Sabo, who were still sleeping.

"Oh, that's right, you must be worried about your brothers, huh Seven?" Whiskey asked the edge in her tone vanishing completely as she watched Luffy. All of them were watching Luffy now, noticing he had left the bed. Luffy fidgeted, looking at the group before turning to look back at his brothers. Their waves had gotten a lot better, so that meant these people were helping, right? But that didn't make sense because doctors hurt people, so why were they helping?

"What's wrong with the brothers?" Izo asked. Anyone could see how much Luffy cared for them just by the way he looked at them alone. It would be a shame if something were to happen to them.

"Right, well, it seems like they're in a coma at the moment, a forced one at that. I think one of the drugs they were given induced it and at the moment I can't do anything to counteract the drugs for fear that one of the drugs doesn't mix well with the medicine and accidentally hurts them." Whiskey said, reaching for whatever Thatch had brought in earlier.

"So we just have to wait for them to wake up?" Thatch asked. Whiskey nodded.

"That is one thing we could do, but I also have this." Whiskey said, holding up the item Thatch had brought him, though Luffy had absolutely no idea what it was, all he knew was that it smelled, _strong_. Luffys sense of smell was heightened and it only made the strong smell worse as he scrunched up his nose, resisting the urge to cover it. It would look weird and the others might get suspicious, but that stuff was really starting to burn his nose.

"Oh yeah, what is it?" Thatch asked, not having been told what it was in the first place. Whiskey smiled, moving over to Aces bed, Luffy watching her closely as she placed the smelly stuff under his nose. He wasn't sure if that smelly stuff could hurt Ace, but the nurse had said it would help him wake up, so it had to be good! But what if she was lying? Luffy was going to keep his eye on her, and if his brother looked to be in pain or his wave got worse he would intervene, even if he was trying to cooperate with them.

"It's a smelling salt, it helps in waking someone wake up because of its strong smell. It's not a guarantee, but its worth a shot. I don't know how strong the drug is, so I don't know how much of an effect this will have on them." She said, not moving away from Ace for a minute before sighing.

"And it seems, in his case," Whiskey began, gesturing to Ace.

"It isn't going to work." She said, all of them frowning a little, though Luffy looked worse off, his frown deeper. It didn't work on Ace... but maybe it would work on Sabo! Luffy tugged on Whiskeys wrist gently, terrified, because he didn't know if she would hurt him for touching her, but he was going to risk it.

"What is it Seven?" She asked. Luffy pointed at Sabo, and then to the smelly salt. Whiskey raised a brow.

"It might not work you know, so don't get your hopes up." She said softly. Luffy shrugged, after all, it was better than nothing. She nodded and moved over to Sabo's bed, placing the vial under his nose, Luffy wondering how someone made salt smell so bad.

Nothing happened for a minute and everyone thought it would be the same as with Ace, but then there was a groan and Sabo was moving, eyes scrunching.

"Ugh... wha' happened?"


	16. Back to Square One

"I'm back Oyaji." Whitebeard turned to face his son, the man just returning from the town on the island.

"Welcome back my son, what did you find out?" Whitebeard asks. He had sent Vista to the town on the island, wondering if they knew about the place that had locked up dozens of children. Surely they must have known, it wasn't all that far from town, and they claimed to have explored all of the forest.

"The citizens confessed to knowing of the place in the forest," Vista informed a scowl on his face. Whitebeard felt the same, frowning. Why would anyone willingly let a place like that reside on their island?

"Did they give a reason as to why they never mentioned it?" Whitebeard asks, Vista nodding.

"They said that they were told to keep it a secret by those who ran it. They were told that, if they told anyone about it, the people would take their children." Vista said, Whitebeards frown deepening as he hummed in thought. He understood the citizens' reasonings, but it still wasn't right, not when children were involved. Surely, if they had informed the proper people, they would come and get rid of the place before their children were taken.

"Anything else?" Whitebeard asked. Vista nodded, twisting his mustache.

"The citizens said they felt bad for allowing it to go on as long as it did and agreed to help bring the children back to their homes." Whitebeard nodded. At least the citizens were trying to help now, even if they hadn't when they truly should have.

"That'll help us out. Whiskey'll be out soon to give a report on all the children, I'll speak to her about it then. Thank you, my son." Whitebeard said, dismissing Vista who nodded, leaving to go help his division.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"So you're awake!" Whiskey said with a smile, glad that at least one of the brothers was awake. Sabo, though, was immediately on guard, tensed and ready to fight. Whiskey and the others noticed Marco and Thatch, getting ready to move and hold him down if he tried hurting the nurse while Izou instinctively moved his hand to his gun. Whiskey back away a bit, knowing better than to get in the kids face when he was ready to pounce.

"Where the hell am I?" Sabo asked harshly, glancing around the room and seeing all the children from the facility in beds around him. He noticed that he himself was in a bed and had to resist the urge to snuggle back into the comfy mattress and blankets.

Looking around some more he saw Ace laying in a bed beside his, unconscious, with tubes connected to his arms, realizing he had them as well. He also looked at the people staring at him, noticing the nurse, who didn't look like any nurses from the facility, and three others, all looking ready to fight him if need be. And then, slightly behind the nurse, was Luffy, a bright smile that he hadn't seen in months on his face.

"Wait, what-?!" Sabo didn't get much chance to question what his little brother was doing in... wherever they were before he was pounced on, the boy practically squeezing him to death. As happy as he was to see Luffy happy he was still thoroughly confused. Pulling the boy away from him lightly he scanned him for injuries.

"Now tell me, what the heck is happening?" Sabo asked Luffy gently, but a no-nonsense tone hidden in it.

"Well that's kind of hard to do when, you know, he can't talk and all..." Thatch said, confusion on his face. Did his brother not know that Seven was mute?

Sabo looked from Thatch and then spun to face Luffy, eyes wide with shock.

"What do you mean you can't talk, what happened?!" Sabo asked, this time actually shouting. Luffy frowned, tapping his leg quickly, Sabo noticing.

'Calm down.'

Sabo almost glared at his brother. Now was not a time for him to be calm. He didn't know where he was, who these people were, or how in the hell Luffy had become mute!

He was quickly turning into Ace.

Luffy did a series of more, inconspicuous taps that Sabo quickly read.

'Pretending can still talk.'

Sabo nearly burst out laughing from relief, his expression calming as he remembered the conversation Ace had had with Luffy about not talking to anyone. He hadn't expected Luffy to listen so well. Or take it so literally.

"Nice job, I didn't think you would listen to the hothead," Sabo said, ruffling Luffys hair. Luffy grinned at the praise, choosing to ignore the slight insult.

"Uh... what?" Thatch asked, he and the others moving into more relaxed positions once they noticed Sabo was calming down. The blonde frowned, remembering there was an audience, and looked at Luffy who looked slightly unsure about the group. Sabo didn't blame him, the girl beside his bed was obviously a nurse, and Luffy only knew that anything doctor related was bad.

"Maybe you can give us more information seeing as your little brother can't speak. I'm Whiskey, by the way, the head nurse of this ship." Whiskey introduced. Ah, that explained the wood and the slight rocking motion Sabo felt. He was on a ship. He didn't know what ship, good or bad, but it gave him more of a sense of where he was.

"Before I'm answering any of your questions I need some of mine answered first," Sabo said carefully, sitting up in the bed, Luffy laying beside him, not wanting to leave his brother now that he was awake.

He could feel the warm feeling radiating off of Sabo and smiled.

"Of course, yoi. I'm Marco, that's Thatch, and that's Izou." Marco introduced, pointing to each person in front of him. Sabo nodded, storing the names with their faces.

"Well then, Marco, I would like to know where I am and what happened," Sabo said. The last thing he remembered was the guards overwhelming him, someone sticking a needle in his arm, and then passing out, hearing Ace and Luffy fighting a few rooms away.

"You're on the Moby Dick, our pirate ship. We're the Whitebeard pirates. As for how you got here, yoi, that would be thanks to your brother there." Marco said, gesturing to Luffy who smiled sheepishly when Sabo looked at him. Refocusing Sabo realized what Marco had just said. They were on the Whitebeard pirates ship. Sabo had heard about them, even as a kid, and recognized Marco to be the first mate and first division commander.

"Yeah, Marco and I were just walking back to the ship when he came barreling out of the forest like a madman! Since he couldn't talk he just did a bunch of gestures and mouthed some words, but we eventually understood that he needed help." Thatch said, interrupting Marco from telling the story, which earned him a glare from the first commander.

"He led us to the place you were held at and took us to the cells where we got all the children out. You and your brother were unconscious so we brought you back here." Marco finished, Sabo absorbing all the information carefully. If Luffy had led them to the facility it meant he trusted them to some extent and they, so far, hadn't done anything to harm them, though Sabo knew that could change in an instant. The blonde sat, silent for a moment as he thought, glancing at Luffy and then Ace. So far, their best option was staying on these pirates good side until Ace was awake and then they could leave. They may be nice now, but they were pirates and after not having freedom for seven years Sabo wasn't going to let him, or his brothers, be trapped anywhere else.

At this point in time, though, Sabo decided to trust Luffy's instincts. If Luffy thought they were good then they probably wouldn't turn on them anytime soon and it would be too much of a hassle to keep it secret anyway.

'Good?'

Sabo discreetly made the sign to Luffy, having to reassure himself that Luffy truly did feel they were good. Luffy looked at them all once more for a moment before nodding to Sabo who sighed.

"Well, I guess its ok for you to talk then," Sabo said, confusing the pirates.

"What are you talking about?" Izou asked, watching Sabo. Suddenly, Luffy exhaled a breath of air, as if he'd been holding his breath, and turned to Sabo, a glare on his face.

"You guys are big meanies! We were all supposed to get out, not just me!" Luffy shouted angrily, Sabo already prepared for the outburst. It was funny to see the pirates reactions though.

"Y-You can talk?! You could talk the entire time?!" Thatch sputtered, Luffy's anger momentarily forgotten as he turned to look at the man, grinning.

"Mm! But they said not to, so I didn't!" Luffy said proudly, Sabo chuckling quietly at the answer.

"Have you told them anything?" Sabo asked, getting Luffy's attention back. The teen shook his head.

"I haven't said nothing, cause you guys said not to so I didn't, not even my name!" Luffy said proudly, the pirates still getting over their shock, though Marco hadn't looked all that shocked in the first place. He had only raised an eyebrow.

"Good job. What have they been calling you?" Sabo asked, curious.

"Seven," Luffy said nonchalantly as if it really were his name.

"Seven? Why?" Sabo asked, looking back to the others for an answer.

"His tattoo. I noticed all the kids had numbers on their wrists and when your brother didn't tell us his name I used the last number of his tattoo, 11097, or Seven." Whiskey explained. Sabo nodded, looking at his own tattoo.

"Well, in that case, I would be Five," Sabo said, holding his wrist up and showing his tattoo.

"Oh, and A-, uh... he would be Two!" Luffy said excitedly as if it were a game as he pointed to Ace, nearly giving away his name. Sabo nodded his agreement and Luffy grinned back. It was strange, Luffy had practically reverted back to his old self as if the last seven years hadn't happened.

That wasn't quite right though. As Sabo looked closer at Luffy he could see the boy shifting nonstop, fidgeting with his fingers, his eyes darting around the room when someone moved, which happened a lot because nurses were everywhere, checking on other children. Sabo could also see him scrunching up his nose, and it wasn't to tell him that someone smelled. Sabo could smell the chemical smell of an infirmary and the smell set his nerves on edge at the memories of the lab, but for Luffy, the smell was much worse for his heightened sense of smell.

They were both ready to bolt out of the room, but Sabo only hoped he was hiding his unease better then Luffy was.

"Why don't you want to tell us your names?" Izou asked, Sabo, giving the lady-man an indecipherable look.

"If you had just been in a place where your life was carelessly thrown around like a toy by people who called themselves human and then woke up in a new place with strangers who are pirates would you be ready to tell them all about yourself?" Sabo asked, his voice calm but a frown growing on his face with every word, Luffy looking at his hands, frowning as well. He could feel the anger and sadness in Sabo and didn't like it one bit. The only thing he ever wanted Ace and Sabo to feel were the happier emotions, like excitement or joy, or his favorites, the warm feeling, or love.

Izou and Thatch were openly gaping at Sabo while Marco was frowning, arms crossed at the words, wanting more than anything to find out what had happened in that place.

"Exactly," Sabo said, more to himself. He turned to look at Luffy, seeing the boys frown and realized his own negative emotions. Sometimes, if Ace or Sabo felt any negative emotions, they would rub off on Luffy and he'd feel them as if they were his own, whether he meant to or not. He took a deep breath, trying to feel calm again, sending pulses of love to Luffy, hoping to cheer the boy back up.

"So what happened to, uh, Two?" Sabo asked, looking at their older brother who was still unconscious. It was silent for a minute, no one answering him, until Whiskey cleared her throat, turning to look at her clipboard with Aces information on it.

"Well, he, along with you and Seven, have been injected with a wide variety of drugs, one of them causing him to fall into a coma. You were in one as well, but we used smelling salts to wake you up. We tried them on Two as well, but they had no effect." Whiskey informed, looking up from her papers.

"Speaking of, I need to check you over and make sure there were no side effects to that drug." Whiskey said, Sabo, fidgeting at the thought. He still definitely didn't trust these people, but Luffy smiled to him.

"I got a check-up too! She didn't hurt me like-" Luffy stopped himself, frowning as memories of the lab came to mind.

"Alright, let's get this over with. Hey, Seven, I bet I'll finish my check-up faster then you did." Sabo said the words without even thinking. He hadn't meant to so easily agree to the check-up, but when he saw Luffy's face he knew he had to distract him somehow. It worked, Luffys frown disappearing completely as Sabo sat up straighter, sitting on the edge of the bed so Whiskey could look him over, having taken off the tubes that were attached to his arm.

Thatch and Izou were sharing a glance, both having heard what Luffy was about to say and not liking where it was heading or the way he had stopped so abruptly. They couldn't ask about it though, not wanting to bring back the despairing look on the teen's face.

Marco was thinking much the same things, except he hid his observations, reminding himself to talk to Oyaji about it later.

Whiskey did her check-up on Sabo, asking his age which, after a moments thought, he gave after learning Luffy had given his.

"17, and for future reference, how old is Two?" Whiskey asked, pointing at Ace with her pencil.

"He's also 17, older than me by a few months," Sabo replied, seeing no harm in giving out that information. If anything they could underestimate them and when the time came, because it would, they could take the pirates by surprise with not only their fighting skills but their powers.

"That's all for now. Thatch, you should go prepare lunch for everyone, but keep it light, a broth or some sort of soup would be good to get their stomachs used to eating again." Whiskey said, looking up from her clipboard. Thatch looked torn, wanting to stay and talk to the three brothers, but also wanting to help by making food. With a sigh he nodded, waving his goodbyes and leaving the infirmary.

"I'll go as well, who knows what kind of trouble my divisions gotten into," Izou said, saying his goodbyes as well as he followed Thatch out, leaving Marco and Whiskey with the boys,

"So, you wanted to ask questions? I'm gonna warn you, they'll either be extremely vague or nothing at all until Two wakes up." Sabo said, readjusting to lay back down on the bed, Luffy snuggling into his side.

"I understand, yoi. Why don't we wait a few days for you three to heal up and we'll talk then?" Marco asks. There was nothing more he wanted than answers, Oyaji as well, but at this rate, they would only get more questions than answers. If he let the brothers take some time to get to know them, trust them more, then it would be an easier talk.

"That would be good, they need to rest right now, especially Seven, you've practically exhausted yourself!" Whiskey chided, the boy looking sheepish, curling into Sabo further.

"That's fine, by the way, Whiskey, Oyaji wants a report when you can, yoi," Marco said, the nurse nodding.

"I'll finish up a few things and head over. Thank you, commander." She said, the man nodding and leaving the room as well.

Now that the brothers weren't crowded anymore they felt a little more at ease, but not too much. There was still nurses covering every inch of the room and the smell of medicine put them both on edge to the point that they couldn't fully relax. This, coupled with the fact that they were in unfamiliar territory with who knew how many strangers onboard the same ship made for two very restless teens.

"How about you return to your bed Seven, so you can both get some rest before lunch?" Whiskey asked, gesturing to the empty bed beside Ace. Luffy hesitated, gripping Sabo's shirt tightly in his hands, the older frowning at the thought of separating, even if only by a few bed lengths.

"I think it would be best he stay here. We'll be fine this way." Sabo said though it was more of a statement than a suggestion. Whiskey, though she looked like she wanted to argue, merely nodded.

"If you need anything you can ask any of the nurses in here. I'm going to go take care of some things, but I'll be back before lunch if you two want to take a nap, which I recommend you do." She said with a pointed look. Sabo nodded in affirmation, though didn't plan on going to sleep anytime soon. Whiskey, taking the nod as an answer, said her goodbyes, leaving the two and exiting the room.

"None of the nurses have bad colors or feelings, but don't nurses and doctors hurt people?" Luffy mumbled softly, face buried in Sabo's side as he continued to grip the fabric tightly. Sabo frowned, not quite sure how to explain to the young teen that not all doctors were bad.

"We... ran into the bad kind of Doctors Lu," Sabo started, speaking softly so no one could overhear the two talking.

"Doctors and nurses are supposed to help people, but we ran into the bad kind that doesn't. Now we just have to stay on guard and make sure these people aren't bad too." Sabo continued, rubbing circles on his brothers back. They remained silent for another few minutes before Sabo spoke up this time.

"You should try and get some sleep, I'll wake you up for lunch," Sabo said, looking at Luffy's head, face still buried.

"Mm. 'M tired." Luffy mumbled out, trusting his brother would keep them safe while he took a little nap. Luffy moved, settling into a comfier position before dozing off, still holding onto Sabo. The blonde smiled at him, looking back up to the room.

The kids from the facility were all quiet, all watching the nurses nervously. A few were sleeping, looking healthy enough, and Sabo guessed they were a few of the ones who had just arrived at the facility the day before. Doing a quick count Sabo found that there were 32 children in all, including him and his brothers. He recognized a few of the children from testing or training and was happy they had been able to keep their promise to Emily, even if these weren't the same kids from back then.

An hour passed, or at least Sabo thought it was an hour, when the door opened, Whiskey walking back in. Sabo could also hear the sounds of a cart coming and was reminded of the food cart in the facility. Thatch walked in next, rolling a cart with a big pot of... something on it, bowls and spoons surrounding the pot. Sabo was about to wake Luffy, thinking this must be their food, but the boy was already waking up on his own, sniffing.

"Smells good!" Luffy mumbled, still tired, but awake from the smell of food. Sabo smiled, smelling the air as well. He couldn't smell as well as Luffy, no one could, but he caught the faint smell of what he presumed to be soup, his mouth watering at how good it smelled. Everyone's stomachs were growling, none of them having been fed since breakfast, which the brothers hadn't gotten, and even then it was the same horrible slop.

"Lunch time!" Thatch said cheerily, already ladling soup into bowls and handing them to nurses.

"We'll come around with bowls, everyone just stay in your beds." Whiskey said calmly, helping pass bowls out. Sabo and Luffy watched, their stomachs growling louder than anyone else's, as children got their food, digging in quickly and practically crying at the taste. When they were finally given a bowl from a nurse the two gave each other a look.

"Might as well, no one else has fallen over," Sabo said, looking at the others who weren't dropping dead from poison. He wasn't worried about Luffy, after literally dying from who knew how many poisons at once he had developed a high resistance to poison, his body able to fight off most.

Sabo took a spoonful, taking a small sip.

It was amazing.

It was better than anything he'd ever had before and he barely remembered to use the manners he'd grown up using as he ate faster than he ever had before. Encouraged by the reaction Luffy began eating as well, though didn't have any restrictions when it came to eating messily. Instead of using a spoon Luffy tipped the bowl back, drinking the entire thing in one go.

"That was delicious! Sa- Five! Its way better than anything we've ever had!" Luffy praised, eyes wide and smiling happily. Sabo smiled back, agreeing with his brother.

"It is. Two's going to be pretty jealous when he wakes up." Sabo said, looking at Ace who was still unconscious. Luffy went quiet for a moment, also looking at Ace, before speaking up.

"Do you think he can hear us talking?" Luffy asked, staring at his brothers' wave. He always thought that Sabo and Aces waves were such a pretty shade of color and wished his brothers could see them too.

"Some say that people in a coma can hear you. They even say that if you talk to them it might help them wake up." Sabo turned at the voice, Whiskey, and Thatch standing beside Sabo's bed.

"Really?!" Luffy asked, turning hopeful looks at the two.

"Mhm. I'm sure he would love to have some company." Whiskey said with a smile. Luffy brightened even more, if possible after how big his smile was after the meal, and jumped off Sabo's bed, rushing over to Aces and taking his brother's hand.

"Ne, A- Two! I know Twos not your name, but we can't tell the others our name so were using numbers! I'm Seven, but One would be cooler! Or maybe Ten! I don't know... Oh! We just had some really good food though, way better than what they had back at the facility! Did you know that we're out of there now? Were with some pirates, but they're good ones so you don't have to worry! Or, at least I think they're good... Ne, Big hair, are you guys good pirates?" The three listened as Luffy rambled to Ace, Sabo laughing at Luffys nickname and Thatch sputtering, Whiskey smiling.

"B-Big hair?! My names Thatch!" Thatch said, placing a hand on his hair and pouting.

"Oh, ok, big hair says his name is Hatch, but he didn't answer my question. These people are weird... there was even this one guy who barely had any hair at all, and another who was _reeeeeaaaalllllyyy_ big, and another one who looks like a girl, but they're a man!" Luffy said, attention back on Ace in an instant.

"And you should wake up soon, 'cause we're all out of the facility now, even the other kids! So that means we kept our promises! And I didn't cry once so I kept my promise too!" Luffy said proudly. The three continued to watch Luffy talk to Ace, smiling, until Whiskey thought of something, turning to Sabo.

"The townspeople on this island promised to help return kids to their homes. The longest anyone, besides you three, need to heal is a few days while your brother there needs a week or two. The plan so far is to have all the children head home, but we can't stay docked at one island too long, especially one not under our control. Marines would send ships to investigate, so to avoid the unnecessary fighting we were planning on allowing you three to stay with us while we sail until Two is completely healed and we can return you to your home island." Whiskey explained. Sabo frowned, his worry and fear beginning to raise its ugly head.

He and Luffy had been playing nice to these people, cooperating and answering their questions the best they could, but now they would be staying with them for weeks?! Every instinct in Sabo's body screamed to get him and his brothers out, now, but he didn't know how to do that. Sure, he and Luffy might be able to take on a few of these pirates, but what happened when they did? Where would they run? They could run onto the island, but that was where the facility was. What if the doctors got away and were looking for them? Sabo didn't even know where in the world they were, East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, North Blue, or even the Grand Line?

Sabo couldn't even come up with a reply to Whiskey, instead, he stared blankly at the blanket covering his legs, face neutral, yet mind in complete chaos. Luffy must have noticed his emotions because the boy paused in his ramblings to Ace to turn towards him, glancing at Thatch and Whiskey. He didn't know what was happening, but Sabo was beginning to experience the bad emotions, so Luffy crawled into the bed with him, trying to ease the feelings the best he could.

Sabo smiled to Luffy, happy to be near the younger, before turning back to the other two. He still didn't know what he was going to say to them, but he had had to say something. He had been silent for too long, and no matter how much thinking he did it wouldn't progress the conversation anymore to be quiet.

"We thank you for your concern as well as for giving us the means to heal," Sabo said finally, his voice almost too calm, a forced smile on his face that he hoped was convincing enough for the pirates in front of him to accept. It seemed to work because they both smiled back, thinking nothing of his lapse of silence.

"Its no problem Five, just trying to help!" Thatch said happily. Sabo held back a sigh of relief, Luffy calming down when his brothers' emotions calmed as well.

"Onto more interesting news, I've looked over some blood that I drew from Two and found what drug was forcing him into a coma. I don't know all the side effects it'll have until he wakes up. From there it's a matter of getting the rest of the drugs out of all of your systems and helping fix the malnutrition." As the nurse explained this Sabo pulled Luffy closer, both looking at Ace.

As soon as he was up they could work on getting out of here.

* * *


	17. Keep Your Composure

It had been three days since the brothers and other children from the facility had been taken to the pirate ship. By then, as promised by the pirates, most of the children had been taken to the town on the island and sent home. There were only three more children here, ones Sabo and Luffy recognized as kids who had been at the facility for almost two full weeks. They were getting final check-ups from their nurses, getting ready to leave that day.

No one spoke about the facility to anyone, not even kids who had been there for a few days. It was like an unspoken agreement that, no matter what, they weren't going to say a word about it. Because of this, though, the pirates only became more curious, wanting to know what the big deal was about the place they had been held captive in.

The nurses and their occasional visitors, i.e. Thatch and Marco, noticed that all of them, everyone from the facility, had common fears. Whenever anyone of them saw a needle they freaked, trying to get as far away as they could. Everyone was also just generally afraid of the nurses so the nurses had done their best not to hover or stay too close for too long.

Sabo and Luffy watched in what was almost jealousy as the last few kids left, going off to their homes, smiles on their faces. The two brothers hadn't been allowed out of their beds too long, their malnutrition much worse than the other children, so they were getting more than a little restless from being in bed for so long.

Not only that, but the smells of the infirmary were setting Luffy and Sabo on edge more and more every day. It never left and Luffy was even getting headaches from it due to his sense of smell. The feeling of being trapped in the room didn't help either and overall the brothers were filling with anxiety and desperation to get out.

Ace was still sleeping though and the brothers really didn't want to leave him alone, not in a room full of nurses who could do who knew what to him, but Marco had said their Captain would want to speak to them soon. If that was the case they would probably have to leave the room soon, both a good and a bad thing.

"Lunch time!" Thatch called happily, walking into the room with a platter in his hands. Now that it was only the three brothers Thatch didn't need to bring in the rolling cart which Sabo and Luffy were grateful for, the sound of it only bringing back bad memories.

One of the good things about being on the pirate ship was that they got three full meals a day that actually tasted, and looked, like good food. They had been eating light foods, broths, oatmeal, rice, etc. Whiskey said they would be able to eat heavier food soon, their stomachs adjusting well to the food. They were given normal portions, which Sabo realized made sense, but Luffy needed to eat much more than that in a day so he had been sharing his food with him. They both didn't want to ask too much of the pirates, afraid that the wrong question or request would turn the pirates on them.

"Yummy!" Luffy said, licking his lips as he was handed a plate with a few different things on it. There was rice, applesauce, and yogurt with bananas. There was even a sandwich, which they hadn't had before. Luffy began to dig in, Sabo as well, though at a much slower pace.

Thatch was easy to open up to, though Sabo was still very guarded near the man despite this, he was a pirate after all, and the brothers found themselves much more comfortable around him. That wasn't to say that the second he did something they didn't like they wouldn't turn on him. They were practically waiting for one of the pirates to show their dark side, the evil that they were convinced everyone had.

"So, how has your day been?" Thatch asked, sitting at the end of their bed as he waited for Sabo to finish, Luffy already licking his plate clean, literally.

"As good as it can be when your stuck sitting in a bed," Sabo said with a nonchalant shrug, trying to force his anxiety down and give off an air of calmness. He was pretty sure he succeeded, Thatch giving him a smile and laugh.

"Yeah, well Whiskey said that you might be able to get up today! She was talking about it to Pops earlier." Thatch explained, grabbing Luffys plate as the teen handed it to him.

"Oh? That would be nice, right Seven?" Sabo asked, his little brother nodding happily.

"Mm! I wanna get out of bed, but every time I try Five tells me to lay back down!" Luffy said with a pout. He understood why, both brothers didn't want to get on the nurse's bad side and that meant, for the moment, listening to her instructions. Unless she told them to do something that they definitely were not going to do.

"It's for your own good Seven, besides, I'm sure Two would miss you if you were running off while he was still stuck in bed," Sabo said, removing his brothers straw hat and messing with his hair, Luffy swatting at his hand, but smiling none-the-less. The door opened and their attention turned to Marco and Whiskey, the two walking in together.

"Oh hey Marco, welcome back!" Thatch announced, smiling to the first mate. Marco nodded to him.

"Did you leave lazy face?" Luffy asked, everyone, turning to give him a questioning look while Sabo paled a bit. Even though Luffy didn't mean to be rude his nicknames could seem that way sometimes and when you were trying to stay on someones good side it wasn't the best idea to make fun of the way they looked.

"Lazy face, yoi?" Marco asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Sabo coughed, nudging Luffy slightly as a show to get him to stop talking, the boy understanding even if he wasn't all too sure why.

"Uh, Seven has a tendency to give people nicknames, he doesn't mean any offense behind his words," Sabo said cautiously, hoping to ease the situation before it became an issue. Luffy didn't quite understand the words Sabo said but assumed he had done something wrong so he nodded his agreement. He didn't want to make anyone mad, the man just had a lazy face, always looking like he was tired or bored and Luffy, for the life of him, couldn't remember his name.

"No, its fine, and yes Seven, I did leave," Marco explained, his face returning back to its bored expression. Sabo sighed in relief, happy the issue didn't escalate.

"Well, where'd you go?" Luffy asked curiously, tilting his head.

"I was escorting the rest of the kids to the town, yoi," Marco explained, Luffy looking at him with more confusion.

"Eskirting?" The teen butchered the word, Sabo shaking his head.

"Escorting Seven, he went with the kids," Sabo explained with practiced ease. It was a regular occurrence that Luffy didn't know a word that someone said and the blonde would have to translate for him.

"Oh! I get it!" Luffy said, beaming while the others watched him, Thatch smiling, Marco not changing his expression and Whiskey not paying any mind to the conversation, instead checking over Ace. Sabo was sure to keep an eye on her as she did.

"So I take it they got there ok?" Thatch asked, Marco nodding.

"Watched them sail off myself. Two were going to South Blue and the other was going to North Blue, yoi." Marco said to Thatch. That raised a question in Sabo's mind, one he'd been wondering for a while now.

"That reminds me, where are we, obviously not in those two Blues, but are we in any of the Blues?" Sabo asked, Luffy watching with interest. He had never left Dawn Island, so anywhere else was cool to him, but what if they were super far away?

"You don't know? This is the Grand Line, or as we know it, Paradise." Thatch said, frowning to the boys. Sabo frowned as well. So they weren't in any of the Blues. That would make it harder if they tried to escape, Sabo had read books on the Grand Line and knew about the unpredictable weather patterns as well as the fact that normal compasses didn't work.

"Grand Line huh?" Sabo asked softly, though he could feel Luffy practically jittering from excitement.

"Really?! That's so cool! Sa- Uh, Five, did you hear that?! We're in the Grand Line!" Luffy exclaimed, practically laughing in delight. Sabo forced a smile, nodding to Luffy's words but not really meaning it. He tried to keep his emotions calm, not wanting Luffy to sense his rapidly growing unease, but it was hard to when there were so many things wrong with the situation they were in.

"Hows Two, yoi?" Marco asked his attention on Whiskey who was finishing her examination. Whiskey turned to face him, shrugging and sighing.

"Overall he's much better than a few days ago, but he's still not awake. The last of the unknown drugs have been cleared out of his bloodstream, but whatever made him fall into the coma has yet to leave, making it harder for him to wake him up. We were lucky that Five woke up at all seeing as even he still has the drug in his bloodstream." Whiskey said with a frown, tapping her pencil on her chin.

"Lighten up Whiskey, everything will work out in the end!" Thatch said, waving off the nurses concerns, trying to lighten the mood. Whiskey frowned for another minute but sighed.

"I guess your right Thatch. Anyways, you two are finally free to move around a bit. I don't want you two running or doing any heavy lifting or physical labor though! No straining your bodies and the second you start to get even the thought that you're getting tired I want you back in bed!" Whiskey ordered sternly, the boys fidgeting under the look, their unease rising at the order.

Luffy nodded mutely, trying to keep a frown from forming on his face as he thought of Haru when he got mad. He was always punished whenever he didn't obey an order and he was scared that the nurse would hurt him or his brothers if he didn't listen.

Sabo nodded in much the same way Luffy had, also having thoughts of the doctors ordering them to do things whether they wanted to or not and how they were forced to obey.

Pleased by their obedience Whiskey nodded, turning her attention back to her clipboard and walking away to talk to another nurse in the room. Thatch whistled.

"And that's why Whiskeys the head nurse. She sure can be stern when she wants to." Thatch said, watching the girl in pink walk off. Sabo tried to shake off the bad memories and feelings, returning his face to a more neutral look and sending feelings of love to Luffy, hoping to calm the boy.

"Seeing as you two are free to move why don't we go head out on deck? You could speak to Oyaji as well, yoi." Marco said, and suddenly the feelings of unease were back, Sabo's mouth going dry and stomach fluttering, legs going weak. He had picked up over the conversations he'd had with the pirates that Oyaji, or Pops, was another name for their Captain, Whitebeard. If they were going to talk to Whitebeard they couldn't have anything going wrong. One wrong move, one wrong word, and they could lose the only safety they had. They had no way of leaving the boat, and even if they did they had no way of navigating back home.

Luffy seemed to pick up on how important Marcos words were, feeling Sabos growing nerves. He was beginning to experience the same thing. On one hand, he wanted out of the room, but what about Ace? And what about when they did go out there and they had to talk to whoever Oyaji was? He could smell a lot of people outside of their room and he didn't want to face any of them. He and Sabo had tried guessing how many there were, Sabo using his hearing to try and distinguish just how many voices there was and Luffy using his smell to figure out how many different scents were out there, but neither of them could pinpoint just how many there were, their guess only going into the hundreds.

"Yeah, Pops has wanted to speak to you two since you got here!" Thatch said with a smile, cleaning up the dishes from lunch and getting ready to leave. Sabo swallowed, though his throat was as dry as his mouth, and gave a weak nod and smile. They couldn't say no, it was Whitebeard, you didn't deny his request at talking, but Sabo had been hoping for a little more time. Luffy rubbing his fingers together grabbed Sabo's attention though.

'What about Ace?!' Luffy signed to him through a series of discreet taps that the other two pirates didn't notice. Sabo hesitated, trying to think fast.

'I can still hear things happening in here, I'm sure if they try something I'll hear them talking about it and we can run back.' Sabo tapped back, though even he wasn't happy with that plan. What if the nurses didn't discuss what they were going to do and instead just went right to injecting their brother, or hurting him? They wouldn't be there to stop them.

'But there's a lot of people out there!' Luffy tapped, shifting at the thought. Sabo tried to send him calm feelings, but it was hard when they were both on the edge of having panic attacks.

'I'll be with you the entire time. If we want to leave we will, no matter what.' Sabo said, trying to ease both Luffy and himself.

"Do you want to go now, yoi?" Marco suddenly spoke up, oblivious to the brothers communicating. Sabo and Luffy most certainly did not want to go right now, but they didn't want to annoy the pirates so, begrudgingly, Sabo nodded, putting up a mask of calm and indifference.

"It would be nice to get out of here for a bit," Sabo said, trying to keep the strain from his voice. Luffy was staring at Ace which Thatch noticed as he picked up the platter, ready to go.

"Don't worry Seven, your brothers gonna be here with the nurses the whole time!" Thatch said with a smile, and though Thatch had tried to comfort them the thought of Ace being left with nurses didn't help them any more than telling someone who was drowning that they were surrounded by water.

"Come on Seven, let's go get some fresh air," Sabo said gently, both of them carefully stepping out of the bed they shared. Though they would be leaving Ace the thought of fresh air did help them slightly, their legs shaky from anxiety. They were both suffering from headaches, Luffys worse than Sabos, and the smells and sounds gave the two horrible flashbacks to the labs. All the nurses surrounding them also made them uneasy and the two had a hard time sleeping, taking turns instead so one could keep guard.

Getting out of the room would help the brothers, but it could also hurt them.

"Let's get going then, yoi. We can go up to the main deck, that's where Oyaji is." Marco explained, heading towards the door, Thatch at his side and Luffy and Sabo following, sending one last glance at Aces sleeping form.

"Remember, the second you're tired come back!" Whiskey called as they left the room. The brothers' anxiety spiked as the door closed and they both had to force themselves to not run back into the room and instead follow the two pirates in front of them. Luffy was gripping Sabo's hand tightly in his, the boys' eyes shifting in every direction, taking in every speck of the hallway they were walking in, Sabo watching the pirates backs intently. The two in front of them were talking, Sabo listening to a random conversation about someone named Rakuyo getting back safely from a mission earlier that day.

Luffy was looking at their surroundings, but also keeping an eye on Aces red wave, watching for any signs that his brothers' health was being harmed. Over the few days, his wave got less and less transparent, though it was still just barely transparent enough to see through. Sabo's wave had gotten so dark it was solid, and Luffy took that as a sign that his brother was completely healed, whereas Ace was still healing.

As they got closer to the door at the end of the hall the noises Sabo heard got louder and louder, the number of people talking nearly overwhelming him as he realized what they were about to walk out to. Luffy was smelling the air, becoming overwhelmed as well with just how many people he smelled on the deck and tried to focus on the fainter smells, like the oceans salty air, or the faint smell of alcohol somewhere out on the deck.

"Everyone's been wanting to see you guys, they wanted to know if you were ok." Thatch said suddenly, shocking them out of their thoughts.

"Oh?" Sabo asked, keeping his mask up, though the words Thatch said didn't make him or Luffy any more calm. Back at the facility they had always been the center of attention for both the doctors and the children. They were the oldest, the survivors, the golden children, the successes, and because of it they never got a break from testing or training. They hated the attention, and to hear that they were the center of attention here on a pirate ship as well wasn't even mildly comforting.

Luffy grip on his hand tightened and Sabo didn't mind the pain that was beginning to take form from the death grip. It was probably the only thing keeping him grounded, sane.

There wasn't even a warning as Marco pushed the door opened, the two pirates walking out onto the deck and leaving the brothers in the hallway. It was now or never. They could walk out on that deck into a million unknowns, or they could run back to Ace and stay where they at least knew their enemy. If they did that though, it would only bring up unwanted questions, and they had made it that far already, so they might as well keep going.

"Come on Lu, let's get this over with, then we can go hang out with Ace for the rest of the day. Just stay quiet, I'll do all the talking." Sabo said quietly to his brother, squeezing his hand reassuringly. Luffy nodded, trying to wipe the frown from his face. They both took deep breaths before walking out on deck.

The first thing they noticed was the overwhelming number of pirates on the ship's deck. The second thing they noticed was how huge the deck, and ship, itself was. The third thing they noticed was that everyone's attention was on them. The last thing they noticed was how bright it was.

The two brothers momentarily forgot about the number of eyes staring at them, the hundreds of pirates surrounding them, the fact that they were on a pirate ship altogether. They were much more focused on the sun, the air, the ocean.

They hadn't been outside in seven years, except Luffy, but the boy had been much more focused on other things to even remember what the sun felt like at that moment. Now, though, they were both staring up at the sky in amazement, both basking in the warmth that the sun gave them, both enjoying the feeling of the ocean breeze brushing over their skin.

Within moments Sabo remembered where they were and snapped out of it, focusing back on the pirates and squeezing Luffys hand to refocus his attention as well. Everyone was staring at them silently, no one making a sound and Sabo and Luffy had to force themselves not to start fidgeting under their intense stares.

Noticing their unease Marco finally spoke up, snapping everyone out of their dazes.

"Alright everyone, back to work, yoi," Marco ordered, everyone quickly going back to what they were doing.

"Oh, uh, sorry, everyone here is easily amused." Thatch said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Luffy and Sabo didn't reply, too focused on how many people were there in the first place.

"Oyaji's this way," Marco said, gesturing ahead of them, walking off with Thatch at his side again, Luffy and Sabo hesitantly following. It didn't take too long to reach the literal giant who was sitting in an equally giant chair, an also giant cup of sake in his hand, Luffy recognizing it as the alcohol smell that he had noticed in the hallway.

"Oyaji, this is Seven and Five. Seven is the one that found Thatch and I on the island, yoi." Marco announced, gesturing to the brothers who, this time, were fidgeting under the gaze of the Captain. At his side was who Sabo assumed to be all the commanders, Thatch and Marco moving to join them, making for a very intimidating scene. Sabo swallowed, taking a deep breath and squeezing Luffy's hand before bowing to the man. Luffy, not understanding much, bowed as well, mimicking his brother. He didn't have a clue what was happening, but Sabo was smart so he would follow his brothers lead.

"Its a pleasure to meet you Whitebeard, sir," Sabo said, remaining polite. The last thing he wanted was to anger the giant.

"Gurarara~! Nice to meet you to brats." Whitebeard boomed, Sabo and Luffy both straightening at this.

"I understand that you wanted to speak with us?" Sabo said, tone neutral and even. He gave himself a pat on the back at how calm his voice sounded when, on the inside, he was full of sheer terror at saying the wrong thing.

"That's correct, I only had a few questions to ask," Whitebeard said, taking a sip from his cup. Sabo nodded, glancing at Luffy who was staring at the ground in front of them, doing his best not to fall into a panic attack.

Luffy had tried reading the Captain's emotions the second they got there, finding no darkness, no bad feelings, but he was too scared to try and look at his souls color. He was too jittery and nervous right now that he was afraid that when he tried bringing down the wall to look at the Captains soul he would accidentally bring down both walls and look into the Captain's memories as well.

The youngest brother wanted to be helpful, wanted to make sure this was a good person, but he was just too scared. Sabo could see the terror flashing in his brothers' eyes and was hit with just how different Luffy was from seven years ago. Seven years ago Luffy would have been running around this ship with reckless abandon, regardless of how many people were on the ship or how dangerous it could be, but now he was practically glued to Sabo's side, afraid to even say a peep to anyone. It was a harsh contrast and Sabo hated that the facility had done this to him, them.

"I hope you understand, but there are a few things that we will not be answering until Two is awake," Sabo said, tone still even and calm as he refocused his attention to the Captain. Whitebeard nodded.

"So I've heard. I do understand, I won't force you to say anything you don't want to." He replied. Sabo nodded back, he and Luffy moving to sit on the deck.

"We'll start off easy. How old are you three?" Whitebeard asked, and Sabo knew that, even though they pretended they weren't, the entire crew was listening. He could hear them whispering to each other, talking about them.

"Seven is 14, I'm 17, and Two is also 17, he's the oldest by a few months," Sabo answered diligently, back straight and keeping his attention on the Captain, not daring to break eye contact. Whitebeard frowned and Sabo, for a split second, thought he said something wrong.

"That's quite young. You're all brothers, correct?" He asked, Sabo, nodding an affirmation.

"When were you taken?" The blonde hesitated at the question but found no reason not to answer. It wouldn't give them an advantage over the three, and they also wouldn't have an advantage in keeping the knowledge to themselves.

"Seven years ago. Seven was seven and Two and I were 10." Sabo said, voice softening and a frown forming on his face, which he quickly removed, returning neutral. Again, Whitebeard frowned, and Sabo could hear murmurs from the crew surrounding them.

"That long, huh?" Whitebeard mumbled quietly to himself and though no one else heard it Sabo did.

"Where are you three from? Surely you have a family, correct?" Whitebeard asked, and Sabo grew silent, debating answering the questions. If he did and these guys turned out to be bad then they would know their hometown, and could possibly hurt their family, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Luffy pulled at Sabo's hand slightly, tapping on his side a series of words that only Sabo understood.

'Makino, Dadan, Garp, Bandits, family.' Sabo tapped his own side, the equivalent of nodding, and turned to Whitebeard.

"Sorry, but those are questions that will have to wait until Two wakes up," Sabo says coolly, Whitebeard merely nodding his understanding.

"I have a feeling you won't talk about anything that happened in the facility without your brother then, hm?" Whitebeard asked, and Sabo shook his head. Luffy scooted closer to him at the mention of the facility, the brothers so close together they were practically conjoined at the hip. Sabo, even though he couldn't feel emotions like Luffy did, could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off of Luffy and tried sending him feelings of love.

"Without Two we won't be saying a word about what happened at that place," Sabo said, his voice gaining a slight edge as he too thought of the facility, his calm demeanor slipping for a mere fraction of a second. Whitebeard, Marco, and Thatch all saw the anger boiling in the teen's eyes, the slight frown he held before his mask was back up and he looked as if he was never bothered in the first place.

"Understood. Do you have any questions? I'll do my best to answer." Whitebeard said, the boys having caught his interest. He wanted to know more about them but with how tight-lipped the blonde was without his other brother he had a feeling he wouldn't be learning much of anything with where they were going. Sabo was silent a moment before he spoke up.

"Why did you help all of us?" Sabo asks, and Whitebeard smiles a bit, raising an eyebrow.

"Who wouldn't help a child asking for help?" Whitebeard asks, and Sabo smiles just the slightest bit, his nerves still all over the place.

"Well, for one, you don't know us, and not to mention you're pirates, you normally kill and pillage, not save and help children," Sabo says, Luffy snuggling closer. Whitebeard nods.

"Yes, most pirates would do that, but I think you'll find that were not exactly your average pirates," Whitebeard says with a light chuckle.

"Why do you care so much about the facility?" Sabo asks, the question having been bothering him for a while now. As he said before, they were pirates, why would they care about this unknown facility on an island that they were only supposed to be restocking at.

"When I heard from my sons that there was a building on this island that was keeping children locked up in cells I was naturally curious-" Whitebeard was suddenly cut off when Luffy sat stock straight, Sabo doing the same only seconds later. Whitebeard was about to question the sudden change in their demeanor when they both suddenly stood up, charging their way back towards the infirmary, crew members moving out of their way in shock.

"What was that about?!" Thatch asks in shock, Marco merely shrugging in answer.

"Marco, Thatch, Izo, go see what the problem is," Whitebeard says, the three commanders nodding and rushing off after the two.

Luffy had been listening to Sabo talk, listening to Whitebeard ask his questions, all the while keeping a close check on Aces wave, making sure that his brother was still ok. As he stared at the wave in front of him Whitebeard began answering Sabo's question. Luffy half listened, making sure that these people were actually good so far, whether they were lying or not when he suddenly saw the wave getting darker, as dark as Sabos yellow one.

Sabo had also been focusing on both Whitebeard and the crew, as well as the nurses in the infirmary when he heard something that made him sit up straighter than he had been before. He and Luffy both tapped the same words to each other at the same time before standing and running off to the infirmary, not even sparing a second thought to the pirates.

_'Ace is awake.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> I tried showing a bit of how much the facility has changed the brothers by showing how different Luffy is now. The Luffy we know in cannon stood up to Whitebeard without a hint of hesitance or fear, but this Luffy couldn't even walk up to the giant without feeling emotions cannon Luffy has rarely, if ever, felt. Its not to say that Luffy will be this way forever, because there's still so much that could happen, but after leaving the traumatic experience that was the facility, I don't think Luffy would be able to bounce back as easily as normal, especially since he was practically raised there and a child's brain is much more impressionable than an adult brain is.


	18. Stress Filled Family Reunions

Luffy and Sabo were running as fast as they possibly could, Doctors orders be damned, hoping they could reach their brother before things got too out of control. Sabo could hear the nurses talking about how Aces heart rate was rising, how he was gaining consciousness, and so he and Luffy had bolted from their spot on the deck, ignoring anyone and everything.

Faintly, Sabo realized that they were being followed, but he didn't care, as long as they got to Ace before things got too bad. Luffy was still gripping his hand, tapping it with his fingers.

'Gear second?' Luffy asked. Sabo shook his head. Even though he wanted to get to Ace faster he didn't want the pirates to know about Luffy's abilities.

'Being followed, don't give anything away.' Luffy nodded at Sabo's response, the two rushing down the hallway, remembering exactly which door was the infirmary. When they reached the door they knew to be the one they practically rammed it down without any concern for the repercussions.

When they were inside they were finally able to see what was happening. Ace was awake, that was for sure. He had his back to the wall, nurses standing in front of him with what Sabo was sure was needles, making his, and Luffys, skin crawl. Their eldest brother was scowling at everyone, a snarl making its way onto his lips, his fists clenched at his side as he scanned over everyone in front of him.

Behind Sabo and Luffy the other three pirates ran in, quickly taking in the scene as well.

"You need to calm down, no one here is going to hurt you." Whiskey tried to tell Ace, voice calm but the needle in her hand setting the oldest off again as he flinched away from her.

"Oh, Two's awake." Thatch said, slight surprise in his voice. Sabo ignored him, gripping Luffy's hand tighter as the two tried making their way to the front.

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" Izo asked, reaching to pull them back, but Sabo swayed just out of his reach, having expected the grab due to his haki.

"He's our brother, of course it's a good idea. Pointing needles at him and telling him to calm down isn't going to help any more than throwing fire on fire." Sabo growled out, glaring at the pirates as he none to gently shoved his way the front.

When they reached the front Luffy examined his brother closer, noticing there was a weird feeling coming from Ace. Whiskey noticed the two in the midst of her trying to calm their brother down and hesitated.

"I don't think you two should be here, he could be delusional." Whiskey said softly, not sure what the drug could have done to the man.

"All the more reason to be here, we know our brother better then you do after all," Sabo said, and he was right. The nurses and pirates knew nothing about Ace and his abilities. Sabo was fully aware that the drug could have done a number of things to Ace and his brain, and he was prepared for him to be less than alright, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to help his brother, especially when they were surrounded by nurses with needles that made his skin prickle with unease.

"Where am I?! And who are you bastards?!" Ace asked in a very Ace like manner, causing Sabo to sigh and look at Luffy. The youngest was staring intently at Ace, eyes narrowed and focused, a slight look of confusion on his face.

"What is it Seven?" Sabo asked quietly, Whiskeys attention turning to them both. Luffy tilted his head, Marco, Thatch, and Izo making their way to the front of the crowd with them and watching Luffy as well.

"His colors weird... its... like a weird yellowy green..." Luffy mumbled, calm enough to drop his wall to see Aces aura, noticing that the normal blue was replaced with the odd color. He'd never seen someone's soul look that color and he didn't know what it meant. Sabo frowned at the words as well, glancing back at Ace.

"His color? What do you mean? His skin? It looks pretty normal to me." Thatch said, thoroughly confused along with everyone else. Sabo chose to ignore the man, taking a step towards Ace who immediately turned his attention on him and Luffy.

"He's confused, he doesn't know what's happening." Luffy murmured to Sabo. Sabo had told him a while ago that when Ace woke up he might not be the same for a little while because of the drug the doctors gave him, so Luffy had time to prepare for this, but seeing his brother look at him like he was a stranger still hurt.

"Who're you two?! Where am I?!" Ace asked, and Sabo suddenly had a realization.

'He doesn't remember anything, not even us.' Sabo signed to Luffy. Their brother was amnesic.

"Your name is Ace, and we're on a ship, the Moby Dick," Sabo said gently. To hell with hiding things from the pirates, he was sure he'd regret it later, but right at this moment, he needed his brother to calm down before he accidentally used fire powers he didn't know he had.

"How did I get here, and who are all you people?!" Ace asked, ready for a fight to break out any second. Sabo took a step closer, Luffy as well, and raised his free hand in a calming gesture.

"I'm Sabo, and this is my brother Luffy. Your our brother Ace and we were taken to this ship so that we could get better. We were really sick." Sabo said gently, leaving out major details, but that didn't matter right now. All eyes were on them as Ace continued to glare at him and Luffy.

"Brothers? I don't have any brothers!" Ace shouted, Luffy wincing slightly at the words and Sabo frowning but clearing his face quickly.

"B-But you do, cause me and Sabo are your brothers, and we love you, and you love us, and..." Luffy trailed off, remembering the feeling of love Ace always sent him, the warmth that always calmed him down after a day of testing or training. He imagined sending that emotion to Ace, imagined that, if Ace felt that emotion, he would remember his brothers and what happened.

"What do you last remember?" Sabo asked, trying to keep Luffy from breaking down into tears. Ace was still glaring, though it let up a bit as he thought.

"I-I don't know... I don't remember anything except..." Ace frowned, glare gone completely.

"Except...?" Sabo said slowly, trying to get Ace to keep talking.

"Except wanting to be free, to get out..." Ace mumbled, Sabo frowning at the words.

"We're free now, though! Were out, so you don't need to worry about that anymore!" Luffy said desperately, eyes shiny with tears.

All the nurses could see that the threat Ace posed was diminishing, if only slightly, and they began to calm a bit, some putting their needles away. They could see the clear signs of amnesia, but continued to let the brothers talk, continued to let them calm Ace. Whiskey was watching closely, Marco, Thatch, and Izo doing the same, ready to help if Ace became violent.

"At least we know their names now..." Izo murmured to the other two, both nodding their agreement.

"I'm sure Oyaji'll want to hear about this too, yoi," Marco said, eyes not leaving the brothers for a second.

"We're free?" Ace asked questioningly, confused, almost like he didn't understand the concept. Luffy nodded rapidly, while Sabo nodded at a much slower rate.

"Yeah, we're free, we're not trapped anymore Ace," Sabo said softly, watching his brothers reaction carefully. Luffy was still doing his best to send Ace the feeling of warmth when Aces expression suddenly turned to one of pain, gripping his head in his hands and groaning.

'What's happening?' Sabo signed to Luffy in concern. Luffy didn't quite know himself but did his best to explain it to Sabo.

'His colors changing again, it's trying to be blue again, and his wave is flashing. Sabo, I'm scared! What's happening to Ace?!' The desperation in Luffy's taps and eyes concerned Sabo and he released his brother's hand, quickly rushing over to Aces side, Luffy following.

"Ace, what's wrong?" Sabo asked in a hushed voice.

"Keep... seeing... weird... pictures..." Ace gritted out, teeth clenched. Sabo hoped that was a good thing. Maybe he was getting his memories back? He could see Whiskey edging closer to them and debated whether he should let her get closer or not. He didn't trust her one bit, but what if something was happening to Ace that needed immediate attention? He wasn't a doctor, and as much as he wanted to keep his brother healthy and safe without anyone else's help it was inevitable that they would need outside assistance.

Before he had to make a tough decision though, Ace stopped groaning, letting go of his hair slowly and blinking, looking around with a frown.

"Ace?" Sabo asked, hopeful, Luffy shifting beside him impatiently.

'Back to blue.' Luffy informed, looking intently at Aces soul, the yellow-green color gone completely, replaced with the normal blue he normally saw around Ace.

"Sabo? Luffy? What's going on?" Ace asked, wincing when he tried to stand up straight.

"Ah, my head, what the hell did the bastards do to me?" Ace asked, squinting his eyes slightly.

" _ACE!_ " Luffy cried happily, tears that he would normally keep back flooding to the surface and falling freely down his face, a bright smile on his face. He jumped into his brothers' arms, the freckled man grabbing him tightly with confusion.

"Luffy? What's wrong? Wait, where are we?!" Ace asked, becoming defensive at the sight of dozens of people looking at him, some armed with needles. He glared at them. He didn't know what was happening, he definitely wasn't in the facility, and he was pretty sure these were doctors or nurses, so what was going on?

'Calm down, safe, for now.' The tapping from Sabo caught his attention and he tried to force himself to at least look calmer. He had no idea what was happening, but Sabo was smart, so listening to him was his best option right now, whether he liked it or not.

"Ace, this is the medical staff of the Whitebeard pirates, as well as three commanders, Marco, Thatch, and Izo." Sabo introduced in an overly formal tone that made Ace raise an eyebrow.

"That doesn't explain how the hell we got here when we were in-..." Ace cut himself off, not sure how much anyone in this place knew, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give them any information.

"They know about the facility," Sabo said with a sigh, Ace whipping his head to look at Sabo who raised his hands up defensively.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't tell them anything about it, and neither did Luffy. You know, he really took to heart what you said about not telling anyone anything, he didn't talk to these people until I woke up, they thought he was a mute." Sabo explained, smiling to Luffy who beamed proudly, and Ace did a double take at the pure smile that he remembered coming from Luffy. He hadn't seen him smile in months, and here he was beaming like the sun! He was still holding Luffy who had wrapped his legs around his waist, clinging to him like the monkey his name signified.

"Anyways, when Luffy got out he apparently ran through the forest until he found Marco and Thatch. He managed to get them to come help us and, don't make that look, he checked first, deemed them 'good colors'. He brought them to the facility where they helped get us, and all the other kids out." Sabo continued, Ace still giving everyone a skeptical look, which Sabo understood. If he hadn't been trying so hard to stay on their good side he would have done the same thing.

"Then where are the other kids?" Ace asked, glancing at all the empty beds with a frown.

"They left today! The people in the town took them to their homes!" Luffy said happily, trying to ignore the feeling of everyone staring at them.

'We're safe?' Ace tapped the signal on Luffy's leg, away from anyone's view. Sabo and Luffy nodded, though Sabo signaled back as well.

'For now. Staying on good side, hundreds of pirates, Captain is Whitebeard.' Sabo tapped out, Ace bristling as he went on. They could barely handle the dozens of guards and doctors, granted they had been weakened with seastone and malnutrition, but Ace still didn't like their chances.

'Talk later.' Ace signaled, wanting everyone in the room gone so he could be with his brothers, though none of them looked like they were leaving anytime soon. Sabo nodded.

"These pirates have been nice enough to let us stay until we're back to full health. Luffy and I have been resting for a few days now, and now that you've woken up the drug they gave you will probably be gone soon as well." Sabo stated, looking at Whiskey for confirmation. She nodded, stepping forward a bit, though Ace instinctively jerked back, setting Luffy down so they both had better mobility. Whiskey held her hands up in the air, a small smile on her face.

"I'm Whiskey, the head nurse, I've been taking care of you three the past few days and, like your brother said, the drug should be almost completely gone by now. Why don't you go lay back down, you two as well, Sabo, Luffy, remember what I said about no strain?" She asked, sending the brothers a frown. They shifted under the look and Luffy felt his heart sink, the air getting harder to breathe. Were they going to be punished? Luffy really didn't want to find out, so he grabbed his brothers' hands, frowning, and tried pulling them to their beds. Sabo went without protest, thinking along the same lines as Luffy, and Ace glared at Whiskey but followed along as well.

"Stupid doctors, always ordering us around." Ace grumbled out, quiet enough so none of the nurses heard, but as they passed Marco, Thatch, and Izo they gave each other a look, having heard the words. The rest of the nurses dispersed, seeing as Whiskey seemed to have a handle on the situation now, while Marco, Thatch, and Izo stayed, following the brothers to their beds. The beds, as much as Luffy wanted them to be, weren't big enough to fit all three brothers in them so Sabo went to his assigned bed while Luffy climbed into Aces with him, having missed his brother and both the physical, and emotional warmth he always gave Luffy.

"I'd like to do a quick check-up if that's ok, to make sure the drug is completely gone and see if there are any other side effects." Whiskey stated, though the brothers had a feeling that even if they denied the check-up she would find a way to do one anyways. Despite this Ace still looked ready to argue, but eventually complied when Sabo gave him a look. When he finally knew what the hell was going on, he would get them out, Sabo's plans be damned. They were so close to freedom that Ace wasn't going to let this stop them.

As Whiskey performed the check-up all three brothers watched her every move, Ace openly glaring at the nurse while Sabo and Luffy watched with much more neutral looks. Sabo had seen the nurse holding a needle when they first walked in and he wasn't going to put it past the doctor to pull it back out and give Ace a random drug now that he was awake.

"Everything seems to be good, the only thing I see wrong with you is the muscle deterioration from your malnutrition, but with a few of Thatch's meals I'm sure you'll be back to full health in no time." Whiskey said, smiling to the brothers.

"Ace, Thatch's food is the best! It tastes way better than the weird soup, and we get actual food! Like rice, and bananas, and bread, and Sabo makes me eat the green stuff because its healthy, but that doesn't mean I like it that much, but sometimes he gives us pudding too, and-" Knowing Luffys tendency to ramble Ace nodded, knocking the straw hat off his brothers head and messing up his hair.

"That's great Lu, can't wait to try it." Ace said with a strained smile, not intending to eat anything he was given anytime soon unless he or his brothers made it. Luffy grinned at him, picking up his hat and fiddling with it. It was quiet a moment, Whiskey having walked off after Aces check-up, mumbling to herself about some paperwork she had to do, leaving the brothers alone with the three pirates at the end of their beds. Or, as alone as they could be when the room was packed with nurses. Aces attention turned to them, glaring, and Sabo sighed. He just hopes Ace didn't piss them off too much. Now that the eldest was awake he felt much better about his odds when it came to getting off this ship, but that didn't mean they were ready to take on the abundance of pirates that made up the Whitebeard crew.

"Well you just missed lunch, but I think I can whip something up before it gets too close to dinner." Thatch said with a thoughtful look, drawing the brothers attention back to the pirates. Thatch began mumbling to himself about different dishes, the brothers promptly ignoring him and turning to Marco who looked ready to talk.

"It seems that things worked themselves out then, yoi," Marco said, arms crossed and bored expression still present.

"It would seem so," Sabo replied, slightly tense. He had almost forgotten the fact that he and Luffy had run off in the middle of a conversation with Whitebeard. He only hoped the pirate Captain wasn't too mad.

"That's good, I'll tell Oyaji your brothers finally awake. You three should get some rest." Marco said, already turning to leave. Izo smiled to them, Thatch already out the door with lunch plans.

"Get well soon!" Izo called, waving to them as he followed the others out, leaving the brothers by themselves.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What was the issue, my son?" Whitebeard asked. A commanders meeting was being held, Whitebeard wanting a full update on everything that's happened recently. Marco sat slightly straighter in his chair.

"It seems that the two brothers were running back to the infirmary and when they got there the third brother was awake, yoi," Marco informed, Whitebeard humming in thought.

"And how did they know their brother was awake?" Whitebeard asked, more to himself. Marco sighed, a slight frown on his face.

"That, I don't know. When they got there it was almost like they expected him to be awake, they weren't surprised at all. Their other brother also showed the same signs of fear as the other children, not wanting to be anywhere near a nurse or needle, yoi." Marco added, Izo and Thatch nodding their agreement.

"The kid didn't have any memories at first, but when he got them back he was just as guarded as the other two. He didn't want to be anywhere near Whiskey or the other nurses." Izo said, face obscured by his fan.

"The third one also said something weird when Whiskey told them to get back to bed. I don't think any of the nurses heard it, but we did when he walked by us." Thatch said, still wondering over the words Ace had said.

"Oh? What was it?" Whitebeard asked, the other commanders listening as well. Everyone wanted to know more about the kids, but they had all been so tight-lipped about whatever had happened in the facility that they weren't any closer to knowing then when they first found them.

"He said something about 'doctors always ordering them around', like its happened a lot before." Thatch said, frowning a bit.

"Maybe they got hurt a lot as kids and always had to go to the doctors?" Haruta suggested from across the table. Marco shook his head.

"They've been trapped in the facility for seven years, even if that were the case, why remember something like that now, yoi?" Marco questioned. Now everyone was frowning in confusion.

"Hey, weren't some of those people in the facility wearing those long doctors coats?" Jozu asked, remembering how half the people had been wearing guard uniforms and the others were wearing the coats.

"Oh yeah! I thought it was weird..." Thatch said, thinking back on the appearances of the people.

"And there was that strange room with all that equipment," Izo said behind his fan. When they had freed the children the pirates had checked the entire facility, finding the lab with all the chairs and tables, as well as tanks full of water, and even the training room.

"It did smell oddly like the infirmary." Thatch said, scrunching his nose up as he remembered the smell.

"So were the people there doctors?" Vista asked, confused. Whitebeard frowned. It made the most sense, why they would fear doctors, but what had happened? There were still too many questions, and trying to fill in even one of them was impossible.

"At the moment, our best guess is that the people there were doctors of some kind, yoi," Marco said, Whitebeard nodding his agreement to the words. There was a knock on the door suddenly, everyone turning to face it.

"Pops, I've got the reports on the brothers." Whiskeys voice was muffled behind the door.

"Come in daughter." Whitebeards voice boomed and the door opened without further hesitation, Whiskey walking in and closing it behind her as she made her way to the Captain, holding some papers in her hand which she handed to him.

"These were just finished not too long before this, the blood work finally came back. This was when we first got the brothers when two of them were still unconscious. The results on the right are the blondes and the left are the freckled kids." Whiskey explained, Whitebeard placing the papers on the table for everyone to see as Whiskey pointed everything out.

"What's it mean?" Thatch asked, confused by whatever he was looking at. Whiskey rolled her eyes but explained.

"Well, this is the drug that caused the comas in the first place, and at this point in time, it was easily present in the bloodstream. The different compounds that were formed together were strong enough to put anyone it was given to into a coma, easily. The thing is, with how strong it was, those two should have been under for much more than a few days. Blondie didn't have much, so it makes more sense why he woke up so easily, but freckle face here got almost a full vials worth!" Whiskey explained. Though not many understood what that meant they did know that it was significant.

"Annnd?" Haruta asked, still lost. Whiskey huffed in frustration.

"And! Freckle-face should have been out for months, maybe even a whole year with this drug! Yet, he's wide awake on day three! And don't even get me started on all the strange chemicals I've found in both of their bodies! I don't have any of the youngests blood, but I'm sure if I did it would be just as bad as his brothers!" Whiskey said, picking the papers back up and looking at them as if she didn't quite believe them still.

"How is it possible for him to wake up after three days if the drug was that strong?" Namur asked. Whiskey gave another huff, a look of frustration passing over her face before she forced herself to calm down.

"That would seem to be the million beri question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Ace is awake now, has his memories, and the brothers are all reunited! I'm not an expert on amnesia, but there were a few things I was taking into account when I had the idea of Ace getting amnesia.
> 
> First, when Sabo had amnesia, he had it for years until he saw a picture of Ace in the newspaper. Ace only had it for a few minutes, but he also had Sabo and Luffy right in front of him, telling him about his past.
> 
> Second, Aces amnesia was caused by a drug the doctors at the facility had given him. With Sabo and Luffy right in front of him and a drug that was already out of his bloodstream, I imagine that it wouldn't be too difficult for him to get his memories back.
> 
> Finally, Ace has faster healing than normal, and because of this, combined with the outside help of Sabo and Luffy, I think Ace would have no problems. I know some people never get memories back, even with family telling them all about their lives, but those people usually have amnesia due to head trauma, whereas Ace got his from a drug that hadn't been tested yet.
> 
> With that said, that's why I had Aces memories, come back so easily. Also, at the end, I had the little commanders meeting showing that the crew is starting to have more and more unanswered questions about the brothers. When, and if, they ever get answers to those questions, we'll all just have to wait and see.


	19. Unlikely Questions, Unlikely Answers

The brothers were as alone as they could be in the infirmary, most of the nurses gone, though there were still a few mingling towards the front of the room. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had been talking in hushed voices so no one could eavesdrop on them and they didn't have to read a bunch of signals.

Sabo had been explaining to Ace everything that had happened while he was out, Luffy filling in bits he still wasn't too sure on, like how he and the pirates got them out of the facility. It was the day after Ace had woken up. Thatch had given him lunch as promised, Ace digging into the soup that tasted better than anything he'd ever eaten before, after some prodding from Sabo and Luffy. By dinner he was much calmer then he had been earlier due to Sabo practically yelling at him to be as nice as possible.

Breakfast had passed much the same as previous meals had, and when all the nurses left the brothers found it the perfect opportunity to talk to each other.

"So they just let the kids go?" Ace asked in a tone that screamed disbelief. Sabo nodded, Luffy listening but playing with the blanket on Aces bed instead of contributing to the conversation.

"From what we know, yes, they were taken to the town on the island and the townspeople there brought them home. According to them, you need about a week or two to heal and they can't stay docked at an island too long so they had to leave the island yesterday before you woke up." Sabo said, remembering that when they went to talk to Whitebeard they hadn't been docked at the island anymore. Ace scowled.

"You mean we're stuck again." Ace said, Sabo nodding.

"Basically, yes, but this time we have the upper hand. They obviously aren't too worried about us, we aren't cuffed, and they know nothing about our abilities. Their estimate for your recovery is already way off, you look back to normal already, and they don't know about you or Luffy having devil fruits." Sabo explained, and Ace nodded, hopes rising.

"There's a lot of pirates on this ship, but if we use the element of surprise to our advantage we should be able to at least get to a smaller boat somewhere on this ship and try and navigate to another island, but we're in the Grand Line, and even if we had a compass it wouldn't work here," Sabo explained, fiddling with his blanket.

"So? I'd rather be in the middle of the ocean than with bastards who are a word away from turning on us." Ace said, still scowling. Sabo sighed, shaking his head.

"You say that now, but what about when we're out of food and there isn't a single island in sight? Right now, these pirates are feeding us and keeping us healthy. All we have to do is play nice until we reach the next island." Sabo hoped Ace would see the reasoning behind his words rather than try to get through this with brute force. Sometimes it worked and most times it failed, leaving them in a worse position than when they started.

"We don't know these bastards! What if they spend months without going to another island? Or they lock us up like they did in the facility?" Ace asked. Luffy, feeling the anger and slight fear coming from Ace, snuggled closer, trying to calm the temperamental brother.

"They're a big crew Ace, they have to stop somewhere sometime, and if they do turn on us suddenly then that's why its good to have the element of surprise. The second they try locking us up we fight our way to a boat and leave, but there's no use in leaving now when we're safer here than on a sea we know nothing about." Sabo reasoned, Ace falling silent while Luffy looked between the two.

"Fine." Ace said after a minute.

"But that doesn't mean I'm gonna like it!" Ace said defiantly, crossing his arms and pouting. Sabo sighed in relief.

"You don't have to like it, just try not to be too mean to them, I'd rather we get as close to an island as possible before you start pissing people off," Sabo said, hearing someone coming towards the infirmary and signaling to his brothers who fell silent. Within seconds Marco was walking in, heading straight for their bed. Before Ace had a chance to say anything Sabo spoke up.

"Hello First Commander, it's nice to see you," Sabo said, smiling with practiced ease. With a plan set and his brothers all safe and healthy Sabo found it much easier to stay calm and put on a mask. Marco nodded towards them.

"Nice to see you too, yoi. Whiskey told me all of you are good to walk around if you wanted. Same rules apply, she doesn't want a repeat of yesterday." Marco says, glancing to Luffy and Sabo, both doing their best not to fidget under the gaze while Ace did his best not to start shouting at him.

"We understand. Was there something you wanted?" Sabo asked before the hot head could argue. He was slightly confused, he and Luffy having spent days in bed before getting an ok to leave, but Ace had been up for only a day and he was fine? He knew that the eldest was fine, but the doctor didn't know about Aces healing ability, so why was he getting the ok so much sooner? Sabo ignored these thoughts, deciding to think on them more later, when Marco spoke up again.

"Oyaji wanted to speak with all of you seeing as we were interrupted yesterday," Marco said, clearly expecting them to go that second. Sabo bit the inside of his cheek, smiling. Maybe this was why he was allowed to move so early so they could go see the Captain.

"Of course. We should get going then." Sabo said, hiding his growing discomfort as he turned to look at his brothers. Ace was scowling while Luffy was frowning, grabbing Aces hand as they all stood up, following Marco out the door.

The walk was as nerve-wracking as it had been yesterday, Luffy clinging tightly to Ace and Sabo's hands, sandwiched tightly in between his two brothers who were focusing all their energy on keeping their guards up. As they exited the hall they were once again blinded by the light, Ace looking up at the sky in wonder, not having experienced the natural light in years, unlike Sabo and Luffy who had experienced it yesterday. He was quickly pulled from his stupor though when Luffy tugged his hand, refocusing him on the many eyes that were on them. Marco was talking to the crowd, telling them to get to work, but it had the same effect as yesterday, pirates only pretending to look away when, in reality, they were watching the three out of the corner of their eyes in curiosity.

Sabo couldn't blame the crew for their curiosity, but that didn't make it any easier for them to make their way across the deck, Ace bristling in discomfort, ready to snap at anyone who so much as looked at them wrong. Luffy was shuffling quietly in between the oldest two, eyes focused on the ground as he tried taking in some of the emotions around them, looking for any signs of the darkness that lingered in bad people. He wasn't getting much, mostly just curiosity, but that was good, right? It meant that at least the majority, didn't have the bad feelings and probably wouldn't hurt them.

Soon enough they were reaching Whitebeards massive chair, his commanders all dutifully at his side, Marco joining them like he had yesterday.

"Hello again Whitebeard, sir," Sabo said smoothly, politely, doing his best to keep his tone steady. Ace was biting his cheek to keep from saying anything, allowing Sabo to take charge and do the talking.

"Good morning. I'm glad to see that you three are all up and healthy." Whitebeard said, the brothers detecting nothing but earnestness in his voice. Luffy sensed the pure emotions coming from the giant and became ever slightly more comfortable. It was strange, the feelings that the giant man emitted made Luffy feel safe, _calm_ , but he didn't quite know why. It wasn't enough to really calm him down, his stress and anxiety levels extremely high from all the attention on him and his brothers, but he felt just calm enough to bring down a barrier and look at Whitebeards soul, squeezing Ace and Sabo's hands for reassurance.

The two older brothers glanced at Luffy when he squeezed their hands, noticing the look in his eyes as he gazed at the giant, and they turned their attention back to the Captain, tense, ready for Luffy to tell them whether there was darkness in the man or not.

"Its thanks to your medical staff that we were able to recover this fast in the first place," Sabo said, trying to continue the conversation and keep the attention on him rather than on Luffy. His voice was slightly more strained then it had been previously and he wasn't sure if anyone else picked up on it, but he had other things to worry about.

"Seeing as we were cut off yesterday, I'm sure you've got more questions, correct?" Sabo asked after a pause in the conversation. Whitebeard nodded, humming in response.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind answering some more questions I would be grateful." He says calmly, Ace and Sabo turning their attention to Luffy briefly who seemed to be finished looking.

'No darkness.' Luffy tapped the words on their hands, calming the brothers ever so slightly, though Ace still looked ready to bite someone's head off and Sabo was barely holding himself together as it was. Luffy was going back to fidgeting, turning his attention to the commanders to try and determine their souls as well to see if they had any darkness.

"We'll answer what we're comfortable with," Sabo said, moving to sit on the deck, his brothers doing the same. Whitebeard nodded in understanding, everyone settling in for a long conversation.

"Why don't we start off simple? I've heard that you three have names, yet it seems everyone knows them but me." Whitebeard said with a smile, looking at the commanders who had been in the infirmary when they had given their names, Thatch rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and smiling. They had been so busy after the awakening of Ace and it slipped their minds to tell Whitebeard about them.

Luffy, who had finished looking at Marco and Thatch's souls, was moving onto Izo's, discreetly telling his brothers that he hadn't found any darkness yet. Ace was, for once, remaining silent, assessing the entire situation with a watchful eye, ready to bolt the second he didn't like something.

"That's correct, my name is Sabo. Luffy here's the youngest, and Ace there is the oldest." Sabo said, gesturing to himself and his brothers. Luffy briefly removed his attention from Izo to look at Whitebeard and give him the best smile he could, which wasn't much, just a slight raise of the corners of his mouth, before turning his attention back to Izo, making sure the lady-not-lady wasn't looking at him. Ace nodded to Whitebeard, frown still present on his face. Sabo said he had to try and be nice, but that was easier said than done, especially when Ace felt like his skin was crawling and all his instincts told him to run, to get himself and his brothers out of the situation they were in.

_"Two of them are 11, that's Ace and Sabo, the oldest brothers. Luffy's only 8, that's Garps' grandson."_

At the sound of the brothers' names, a knowing glint shone in Whitebeards eyes, but he held the question in, for now, wanting to know more about the brothers before he brought it up. He smiled slightly instead, nodding his head.

"I think it'd be best to just ask the question on everyone's mind, that being, what was the purpose of the facility?" Whitebeard asked, only a tone of curiosity in his voice, no malice detected in his speech or posture. To be sure though Ace tapped Luffy's leg, getting the youngests attention away from the commanders and back on Whitebeard. A quick scan and a few taps later told the eldest brothers that Luffy hadn't felt any darkness either, which only slightly eased the brothers as Luffy turned back to the commanders, now onto the last 5 of the 15 commanders.

They had yet to answer the Captain, Ace, and Sabo having a quick conversation between themselves, debating whether or not they should tell them anything.

'We should at least answer something, we can't put off answers forever if we want to stay on their good sides!' Sabo tapped quickly, moving his eyes to the deck in front of him, watching Aces fingers out of the corner of his vision.

'But why do they need to know in the first place, its not their business!' Ace tapped back, just as fast, if not faster, also staring at the deck in front of him.

'Ace, regardless of whether it is or not, not answering them could make them angry, we aren't prepared for everyone on this deck to attack us at the moment. You only just woke up, you need at least another day of rest 'til you're ready to fight at your full strength.' Sabo tapped, a slight frown working its way to his features.

'Who cares, I can still fight and that's all that matters!' Ace tapped defiantly, almost huffing in frustration. Sabo's lips thinned.

'Ace, that's not the point. We can be vague, don't get too detailed, just answer enough to make them satisfied.' Sabo tapped, trying to compromise with the stubborn fire user. Ace didn't tap for a few seconds and they were going on a full minute without responding to Whitebeard, the commanders watching them with piercing gazes, ready for an answer they had yet to give.

'...Fine.' Ace tapped, glaring slightly as Sabo rose his gaze back up to Whitebeard, Ace still refusing to look at the Captain. Sabo removed the frown from his face and went back to a neutral look, inhaling as he felt Luffy tap that another commander was clear, no darkness.

"The facilities purpose is beyond me and my brothers. What they wanted was never clear and they never told us much in the first place." Sabo said coolly, fighting the urge to fidget restlessly at all the eyes on them, all the attention. If they didn't finish this conversation soon he wasn't sure if he would be able to keep Ace at bay anymore. The eldest was gripping his shorts with one fist, his other hand holding Luffy's hand tightly in a vice grip that would probably crush the poor boys' bones if they weren't made of rubber.

To be fair, Sabo wasn't doing much better either. Though his outward appearance may seem calm and relaxed he was anything but. He was clutching Luffys hand as well, maybe just as tight as Aces, while his other rested on his knee, his face a mask of neutrality, but on the inside his nerves were jumping and begging him to run from the situation he was forcing himself into.

Luffy was too concentrated on checking the souls of the commanders to give into his nerves, but he was gripping their hands tightly as well, his face neutral, eyes piercing, literally, into the commanders' souls, making sure no one was watching him as he did. When someone did happen to glance his way he quickly averted his eyes, looking at the ground and trying to calm his increasingly rapid breathing.

"Do you have any idea as to what they were trying to do? Why they needed so many children?" Whitebeard asked, pulling Sabo from his musings. Luffy was finishing up checking the commanders now, relaying the message that they were all clear, no darkness in them, which calmed them all just a tiny bit more.

"No. All we know is that, whenever one child left, they were replaced with another." Sabo said, an edge in his voice at the thought, the brothers' expressions darkening.

"Left? Like, went home?" Thatch asked innocently from where he stood. Ace didn't even bother trying to hold back the scoff at the question, Luffy looking back at the ground and Sabo shaking his head, frowning.

"No, no one went home. The only way you left the facility was when you were no longer useful." Sabo replied darkly.

"No longer useful?" Thatch murmured, still not quite getting it.

"Dead. You left when you were dead." Ace growled out, Luffy beginning to tremble slightly, moving to snuggle closer into Ace's side for comfort. Thoughts momentarily forgotten, Ace turned his attention to Luffy, letting go of his hand and wrapping his arm around his shoulders, hugging him closer. Sabo scooted closer to Luffy as well, knowing the boy liked physical contact best when he was scared or nervous.

Thatch, finally understanding what Sabo had meant, frowned, everyone else doing the same.

"What would the people in the facility do to the children?" Whitebeard asked, wearing a frown of his own, though not directed at the brothers.

The brothers couldn't keep the memories from flashing back of all the tests, trials, training, doctors, needles, tools, straps-

Sabo shook himself out of those thoughts, turning and seeing Ace and Luffy's eyes glazed over, remembering the same things Sabo had. Luffy's trembling was getting worse, more visible to anyone, which was everyone, watching them, and even Ace was beginning to tremble ever so slightly, though you wouldn't notice unless you were right beside him like Sabo was. Letting go of Luffy's hand Sabo tapped Aces arm, trying to draw the eldest out of his thoughts. When he did Ace looked around, a slightly crazed look in his eyes before noticing Sabo.

'Help Lu.' Sabo tapped, turning back to the Captain and clearing his throat, knowing Ace would manage to calm Luffy down better than he could at the moment.

"The people, if they can even be called that, did anything they wanted to us. If they thought of something, they did it, no matter the side effects." Sabo said, voice low though audible to those listening, tone dark and eyes swimming with anger.

"They used a lot of needles..." Luffy's voice was quiet, soft, and timid. Everyone looked at him in surprise, not having expected the boy to talk, and Luffy himself didn't look like he had expected himself to either.

"And they made us eat yucky soup and we never got any good food, and they always made us sit in hard chairs, and they made us sick, and gave us headaches, and hurt us, and-"

"Luffy." Ace's tone was hard, yet not mean. It was only meant to pull Luffy from his ramblings, and it worked, the boy blinking in surprise, looking around, before meeting Aces eyes and frowning, leaning even more into his brother.

"Sorry." He mumbled to Ace, closing his eyes and trying to forget the fact that people were watching him, that they were asking about the facility, that they were surrounding him and his brothers, that if they said something wrong, they would be attacked.

It was silent as Luffy's words sunk in, the brothers not daring to speak in fear that the pirates would attack. Instead, they waited for someone, anyone, to speak up again, hoping that they would finish this conversation soon.

Eventually, it was Whitebeard who spoke up.

"I'm sorry that you three, as well as all the other children, had to go through something as horrible as that." He said gently, still frowning, though much gentler then it had been. Sabo nodded.

"I only have one more question, for now, one much lighter than the previous." He said, Sabo and Ace watching him carefully, Luffy still buried against Ace's chest.

"What is it?" Sabo asked, ready to be done with this. He felt exhausted from this talk, the memories weighing heavy in his mind.

"Do you three happen to know a brat named Red-Haired Shanks?"


	20. The Red-Haired Idol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I hope you're liking this story so far! Quick note; seeing as this story has 100 chapters, uploading them all here is as time consuming as I predicted it would be. Because of this, I'll be updating in batches of 20, so if you guys end up subscribing to this story, I apologize for the influx of alerts that you'll get when I update new chapters. As mentioned in the beginning, all chapters are up on Fanfiction.net for you to read if you'd rather go there.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

As the brothers made their way back to the infirmary they were still left reeling from the sudden ending of their conversation with Whitebeard. They still didn't quite believe the Captain and didn't know how to feel about the information they were just given.

_**/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Do you three happen to know a brat named Red-Haired Shanks?" Whitebeard asked, the three sitting up straighter at the name, Luffy's eyes opening as he raised himself off of Ace's chest and watched the Captain with weary eyes.

Once upon a time Luffy would have smiled brightly and shouted to anyone that asked that, yeah, he knew Shanks, he had gotten his hat from him! But now, he felt conflicted. They had been captured for seven years, and although Shanks might not even know that he had been kidnapped, Luffy did. Would Shanks have tried to rescue him if he knew? Did Shanks know he was kidnapped? If he did, did he try to find him and his brothers? Or had he given up on Luffy? After all, strong people don't get kidnapped and held for seven years. Did Luffy really deserve to have his idols straw hat anymore? He had promised to give it to Shanks when he became the greatest, the Pirate King, but when he was in that cell he didn't see himself as the Pirate King, he saw himself as a prisoner, one that would never see the blue ocean ever again.

Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy, worried about how he was going to react. They knew about Luffy's idolization of the man, the promise he had made with him, the meaning behind the straw hat, but how did the boy feel now? It was obvious by Luffy's silence and lack of exclamation that he definitely felt different than he used to on the matter.

And why was Whitebeard asking? Were they enemies with Shanks? If they gave away their connection to the man would they become hostile towards the brothers? Sabo didn't know what to say for a minute, looking at Ace with hesitance, though the eldest didn't seem to know what to do either.

"Yes, we do." Sabo hesitantly replied after a minute of silence. The brothers were tensed, ready for a fight, sure that if they were going to be attacked it would be now.

What they didn't expect was for Whitebeard to laugh.

"Gurararara~! So you are the three brats that brat was looking for after all!" Whitebeard laughed loudly, the commanders at his side looking shocked. Sabo frowned, glancing at Ace again, seeing his brother was frowning as well.

"What do you mean?" Sabo asked Luffys grip tightening.

"Red-haired brat came here a few years back looking for three brats, told me they had been kidnapped and wanted help finding them. It seems we've finally managed to stumble upon you three."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Do you think he was telling the truth? Shanks was looking for us?" Luffy asked in a small, timid voice. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other hesitantly, Sabo turning a soft gaze on Luffy.

"Who knows. Ace and I never met him, but from what you've told us you two were good friends, I'm sure he would have been looking for you." Sabo said carefully, not quite sure himself. Luffy remained silent, looking at the ground in front of him as they walked slowly through the halls of the ship. Aces lips were thin as he held himself back from speaking.

If the pirate had been actively looking for them, how come it was Whitebeard who managed to accidentally stumble upon them? He kept this to himself, not wanting to diminish any hope Luffy might have about his idol.

As the brothers reached the infirmary they did their best to ignore the smells and nurses as they walked to their beds. Sabo could see Whiskey perking up from where she sat, making her way towards the brothers. Tapping quickly to alert his brothers Sabo got into his bed, Ace and Luffy getting into their own bed as well.

"Wonderful, you three are back!" Whiskey said in a tone that unnerved the three. Ace frowned, nearly glaring at the nurse, while Luffy clung to his brother and Sabo did his best to remain stone-faced. Seeming to notice the tension rising within the three Whiskey rose her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Don't worry, I'm only here to run the usual check-ups, make sure that your little excursion didn't do more damage than good." Whiskey said calmly, the three slowly calming down, though still guarded. Sabo allowed himself to get checked over first, the nurse going through the usual procedures as before, jotting something down before turning to Ace and doing the same, and then to Luffy.

"It seems you three are as healthy as this morning, if not healthier. You're making more progress towards full recovery as well Ace, it's remarkable really." Whiskey commented, more to herself as she stared at her notes. Ace shifted uncomfortably, remaining silent.

"Well, in any case," The nurse said, raising her head to look at the brothers.

"I was wondering if I could draw some blood from you Luffy, seeing as I don't have any of yours. I don't know if there are any chemicals that could be doing you harm running through your veins." Whiskey said calmly, voice steady. Ace and Sabo tensed while Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

'Take blood with a needle.' Sabo had the forethought to tap the quick explanation to the boy who had no clue what the doctor was talking about. When Luffy understood as well he paled, trembling slightly and clutching Ace tighter, frowning. Noticing this Whiskey reverted back to the stance she had earlier, hands up in peace.

"Don't worry, if you don't want to we don't have to, I just don't want you to get hurt anymore then you already have if we could prevent it." Whiskey explained in a soft voice. The three remained silent and Whiskey was about ready to just give up on it altogether when Sabo cleared his throat.

"We understand your concern, but we're all a little hesitant when it comes to needles. I think it would be best if we didn't draw anyone's blood." Sabo explained as calmly as he could, though his voice did waver slightly at the end. Whiskey nodded in understanding.

"That's alright, but if you feel any change, any new pains, dizziness, nausea, anything, tell me." Whiskey said sternly to Luffy, the boy nodding in agreement, the tone of the nurse's voice putting him on edge, Ace bristling at it, holding back a snarky response. Whiskey, pleased by the nod, turned her attention back to her notes, eyebrows knitting in confusion.

"It is quite remarkable though, how fast you three seem to be healing, you especially Ace. At this point, you shouldn't even be awake, much less moving freely without any fatigue!" She says, more to herself as she taps her pen to her chin. Sabo and Ace share a look, Ace doing his best to hide a smug smile.

"Guess I'm just a fast healer." Ace said in an almost too cheery voice. Whiskey paused at the tone but shrugged it off, nodding.

"Guess so. Well, in any case, it seems like you three should be able to move around freely within the next day if you all continue healing at this rate. We could even talk with the Commanders and Pops about getting you guys your own rooms." The nurse said, lowering the clipboard and smiling at the three. This was the best news the three had heard in years.

"Thank you, we appreciate everything you've done to help us get better," Sabo said politely, using his overly formal voice when addressing the nurse. He was grateful to the Whitebeards for helping them recover, but who knew when they would turn on them?

"It was no problem, really. There is one minor thing, though," Whiskey said, raising the clipboard back up to her face. Ace and Sabo tensed, expecting this to be the moment that she whipped out needles and chains. Luffy, noticing his brothers emotions and feeling Ace tense up, glanced at the nurse, ready to start running if necessary.

"What is it?" Sabo asked, voice slightly quieter than it had been a second ago, trying to keep it from wavering. Whiskey frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Even though you're all eating properly you don't seem to be gaining the right amount of weight, especially Ace and Luffy." Whiskey said, relieving Ace and Sabo, which in turn relieved Luffy. He didn't really know what was happening, but his brothers had calmed down, so he did too. Sabo smiled again, laughing almost sheepishly.

"Ah, well, Ace and Luffy have big appetites" Sabo explained, the nurse examining her notes another minute before nodding, jotting something down.

"Well, why didn't you say something sooner? If you were still hungry you could have asked for more food!" Whiskey said in an almost chastising voice. The brothers didn't quite know how to handle the information. All their lives they were told to fend for themselves, and in the facility, there was no, 'asking for seconds,' even if you _were_ hungry enough to eat another bowl of garbage.

"I'll tell Thatch to make you three some bigger meals, and if you want seconds, just ask." She said, smiling at the three. They nodded, still unsure how to respond, and she nodded back, turning and walking out the door, leaving the brothers in their beds, still unsure as to what had happened.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"I can't believe that those three were the brats that Akagami was looking for!" Rakuyo exclaimed. The Commanders and Whitebeard were sitting in the meeting room, discussing the conversation they had had with the boys, or more like Sabo seeing as Ace and Luffy rarely said a word.

"Yeah, I didn't think that they would still be alive after all these years," Haruta muttered.

"I wouldn't be too surprised Haruta, after all, this is someone that Akagami brat bet his arm on," Whitebeard said, grinning. Beside him, Marco was dialing a number into a den den mushi, the snail ringing for a minute before there was an answer.

"Shanks here, who 'm I talkin' to?" A voice asked on the other line. Whitebeard smiled, lifting the snail from the table and speaking into it.

"Brat. It seems you're still in good health." Whitebeards voice boomed, the commanders falling silent as they listened.

"Ah, Whitebeard it seems. Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Shanks asked, the snail copying his facial expression by raising an eyebrow at the giant. Whitebeards smile widened.

"I believe we've found those brats of yours that you've been looking for," Whitebeard answered, the line going silent, the snails' eyes widening. There was a shuffling and a slam, like Shanks had placed his hand down on something wooden.

"What?! You've found Luffy and his brothers?!" Shanks asked the background noise that had been loud and boisterous moments ago falling silent.

"Unless there's another Ace, Sabo, and Luffy then I believe we have," Whitebeard answered. There was suddenly cheering in the background and Shanks was laughing joyously.

"I can't believe it! Where are you? We'll come your way immediately!" Shanks cried happily. After giving them their coordinates they found it would take the Red-Haired Pirates a week to reach them. They ended the call, the snail falling back asleep.

"It seems that those brothers are pretty important to Akagami," Blamenco noted, crossing his arms. Everyone nodded their agreement when there was a knock from who they assumed to be Whiskey. They were right when she entered, holding her clipboard in her hand as she walked up to the table.

"Do you have news, my daughter?" Whitebeard asked, everyone curious, wanting to know anything they could about the brothers. Whiskey sighed.

"Some news. I wasn't able to get any of Luffy's blood like I hoped, so I have no clue if he's got any harmful chemical in him. Otherwise, the brothers are all cleared to leave the infirmary tomorrow as long as they don't do anything to reverse the healing they've done." Whiskey explained, looking through her notes. Whitebeard nodded.

"We'll prepare some rooms for them then," Whitebeard said, turning and giving Marco a look to which he nodded to.

"Why couldn't you get the kids blood? Was there an issue?" Curiel asked. Whiskey frowned, shaking her head.

"No, no problem, but as I've mentioned before, every child that we rescued has issues with needles, practically a phobia of them. I don't want to upset the three when we can barely get them to tell us their names. As much as I'd rather get blood any way I could I don't think it would be a good idea to force them into letting me draw blood. If anything, it would do more harm than good, especially if it turns out that there's nothing harmful in his blood. Our best option is to wait and see if Luffy starts having any new symptoms." Whiskey explained to the group. All of them nodded their understanding.

"It is a little odd though, how fast the brothers are healing though. Besides the fact that Ace was supposed to be in a coma for another month _at least_ , they all healed at a much more rapid rate than I expected, Ace especially. Even after being awake he should have needed another week of healing, not a day or two." Whiskey said, frowning at her own notes.

"Is it a drug?" Rakuyo asked, all of them confused. Whiskey sighed.

"I don't think so. All the drugs that were present when the brothers got here have dissipated by now. If there had been anything helping them it wouldn't be helping them now. Also, Thatch, it seems we need to up the meal sizes. I thought it was weird that even with a regular, healthy diet the boys weren't gaining as much weight as they should have, Ace and Luffy especially. According to Sabo, they have large appetites." Whiskey said, addressing Thatch who frowned, but nodded, almost mad at himself that he had let the brothers go hungry, even if he hadn't known about it.

"Why didn't they say anything?" Izo asked. Whiskey shrugged.

"I don't know, I didn't push it. The three looked ready to bolt at any second so I dropped it." The nurse explained, lowering her clipboard.

"When are we ever going to get some answers from these brothers rather than more questions?" Curiel muttered, the commanders nodding in agreement. Anytime they got an answer to something they got five more questions to follow it.

"All we can do now is make them comfortable. Red-haired brat will be here in a weeks time, so, for now, let's get them settled." Whitebeard declared.

"I'll go have their rooms prepared, yoi," Marco said, standing from his chair and leaving the room. This signaled the end of the meeting, everyone standing and heading off to do their daily tasks.

"I'll go start lunch," Thatch said, a slight frown still on his face, exiting the room.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Luffy, you should try to take a nap." Ace encouraged, wrapping an arm around the youngest. After everything that had happened today the brothers were surprised Luffy wasn't passing out at that moment.

"Don' wanna," Luffy mumbled, burrowing his head against Ace's chest. Ace rolled his eyes while Sabo watched with interest.

"And why not?" Ace asked, wondering what answer the boy would give.

"'M not tired," Luffy mumbled back, though his eyes were closed and he yawned.

"Your body says otherwise Lu. Take a nap, Ace and I will stay up." Sabo said gently, hoping his brother would listen and take a well-deserved nap. Luffy shook his head again.

"Nuh uh." He responded. Ace huffed, beginning to feel slightly annoyed.

"Come on Lu, just take a nap, it'll be fine. Sabo and I are gonna be right here the entire time. We won't go anywhere." Ace continued to encourage, trying his best to remain calm. Luffy was silent for a minute and the two oldest wondered if he had listened to them and fallen asleep. They were proven wrong though when he spoke up again.

"Can you tell me a story?" Luffy asked, voice much softer and quieter than it had been before. Ace frowned while Sabo sat up a little straighter in his bed.

"A story?" Sabo asked. Luffy nodded, still not opening his eyes.

"Mm. Like the ones, you used to tell me before. About the pirates." Luffy said, peeking an eye open momentarily to glance at the blonde brother. Sabo looked at him for a moment before shrugging, standing up from his bed and moving to sit at the foot of Ace and Luffy's bed.

"Alright, as long as you promise to go to sleep right after," Sabo said sternly. Luffy nodded, a small smile forming as he snuggled further into Ace, getting comfortable.

"Promise!" Luffy chirped happily, wrapping an arm around Ace and closing his eyes again. Sabo smiled while Ace smoothed back some of Luffy's hair, his straw hat sitting on the bedside table.

"Well, why don't I tell you about the Gold-Toothed Pirates?" Sabo asked, Luffy nodding vehemently.

"Yeah! Did they go on lots of adventures?" Luffy asked excitedly, always enjoying Sabo's stories. Ace settled into the bed more as well, interested in the story as much as Luffy was. He had to admit as well that Sabo had a way with storytelling that always made the listener feel as if they were experiencing the story themselves.

"Well of course, what pirate doesn't go on lots of adventures?" Sabo asked before launching into the story. It wasn't long before Luffy was sleeping peacefully against Ace's chest and Sabo was finishing the story, moving back to his own bed.

"I haven't heard one of your stories in a long time." Ace said with a yawn, shifting slightly, careful not to wake Luffy. Sabo shrugged.

"No one was ever in the mood to listen to them. Besides, we had much more pressing things to think about for the last year." Sabo said.

"You got that right." Ace muttered darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Shanks has been contacted and is now on his way! In a week he'll be reunited with the brothers, whether they want to or not. This was another way I wanted to show how the facility had changed the brothers, by showing Luffy's hesitance about Shanks now. Even though he idolized the man in his childhood, now hes full of doubts and self-consciousness.
> 
> It's not that he doesn't like Shanks anymore, because that's just not possible unless Shanks did something completely unforgivable, but it's more that Luffy doesn't think hes adequate enough to be the owner of the precious straw hat anymore.
> 
> How all of that plays out, we'll have to see when Shanks arrives.


	21. Out of the Infirmary at Last

"Lunch time!" The sing-song voice of the Whitebeard Pirates chef filtered to Sabo's sensitive ears, though you didn't need super hearing to hear the man coming. He practically kicked the door open, grinning ear to ear, balancing a tray of food in one hand and drinks in the other. Sabo sat up straighter, almost instinctively, while Ace roused their napping brother. It had been at least an hour, and while they wished Luffy could have slept more they weren't complaining seeing as they were going to be able to eat.

"Thatch, what have I said about being quiet in the infirmary?" Whiskey hissed, quiet enough that the brothers weren't supposed to be able to hear it, but Sabo was easily able to pick up on it.

"Ah, right, sorry Whiskey!" Thatch said, still grinning and not seeming all that sorry as he made his way to the brothers. Whiskey sighed in annoyance, rubbing her forehead but leaving it be as she turned back to whatever she was working on.

"Hey, boys! Hungry?" He asked, lowering the tray of food down so the three could see what was on it. Luffy was slightly groggy, having just woken, but the sight of all the food made his eyes sparkle happily and he had to keep from drooling all over Ace. There was definitely more food then the brothers had previously been getting, but instead of just slightly upping the meal sizes Thatch had gone all out, practically preparing a feast of different foods.

"Whiskey told me you guys seem to have bigger appetites then you let on, so I decided to make a lot of food. Eat however much you want, that way I'll know how much to make next time." Thatch encouraged, gesturing to all the food that was practically spilling over the tray.

The tray was piled high with sandwiches, bread, bowls of fruit, rice, meat, and even vegetables that Sabo and Ace were going to make sure Luffy ate, no matter how much the boy complained. Ace and Luffy couldn't hide the loud growl their stomachs made, Ace blushing slightly in embarrassment while Luffy didn't pay it any mind, more focused on the food.

"Well go ahead, I made all this for you three after all." Thatch said, placing the tray of food on the bedside table in between Ace and Sabo's beds, grabbing a chair and sitting. Luffy, ready to grab the food, hesitated, looking at Ace and Sabo for confirmation first.

Clearly, Thatch didn't think the brothers would eat all of this, so would he freak if he found out that Luffy could eat five times the amount on the tray in front of them? They had said they wouldn't mind making more food for the brothers, said that they should tell them if they were still hungry, but they didn't know that there were two black holes in Ace and Luffy's stomachs that could clean out their entire storeroom.

The brothers debated amongst themselves on what to do before Ace picked up the tray, moving it towards him and Luffy to where the blonde couldn't reach it. Thatch watched, wondering what he was doing, but then he saw Ace dividing the food up, removing most of the fruit from their bowls, placing sandwiches into the bowls with the fruit, adding vegetables, rice, bread, meat, and then handing it to Luffy who handed it to Sabo, leaving the rest of the food to the two ravens.

Sabo nodded his thanks as he began eating at a normal pace, using his manners. Ace then divided the food in half and Thatch watched as the brothers began to eat at a relatively slow pace. He cleared his throat, noticing that he had been staring.

"So, I heard you three should be all cleared by tomorrow!" Thatch said, grinning again as he tried to start up a conversation. Sabo nodded and made a motion as if he was going to speak, which made Thatch wonder why he was always the one who talked to them rather than Ace or Luffy, because surely they had the same answers that the blonde had, so why not talk more? This was a question for later though when all their attention was turned to the infirmary door that was opening, Marco walking in with his normal neutral expression, making his way over to the group.

"Oh, Marco, hey!" Thatch greeted cheerily, waving to the first commander. Marco nodded back in greeting, pulling up his own chair and sitting beside the chef, looking to the brothers who were watching him as they ate. Marco raised an eyebrow at the amount of food on the platter, turning to Thatch who laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't know how big their appetites are so I just made a lot and figured whatever they didn't eat could go to anyone looking for a snack." Thatch explained, not noticing the smirk Sabo was hiding as he bit into an apple, or the way Ace slightly choked on his food in an attempt to stifle his laughs. Luffy was oblivious to his brothers, more focused on the amazing food he was eating. He hadn't eaten this well since they had lived in the jungle years ago!

Marco sighed and shook his head, wondering if Thatch had also made it out of guilt for not noticing the boys hunger before. Figuring it was probably the case he let it go, turning his attention back to the boys.

"I'm sure you've heard that you'll be free to leave the infirmary tomorrow. We're already setting up some rooms for you to use while your here." Marco said, addressing the brothers. Sabo hesitated in taking a bite out of his sandwich, glancing at Luffy and Ace out of the corner of his eye. Ace had tensed slightly and Luffy, noticing the change in his brothers' demeanor, slowed even more in his eating, looking around in confusion, not having heard Marco.

"If you wouldn't mind we only need one room," Sabo said stiffly, none of the brothers wanting to be separated. Marco and Thatch raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really? Its no trouble to get you guys separate rooms. Besides, it cant be comfortable to try and fit all three of you into one room." Thatch replied. Ace frowned and Sabo tried to remedy the situation before Ace started shouting insults. They were still walking on eggshells here, they didn't need Ace burning those eggshells out from under them.

"No, we'd much rather prefer sharing a room." Sabo insisted, hoping he wasn't pushing any boundaries with the pirates. After a second of silence, in which all three brothers had stopped eating out of fear of the response, Marco shrugged.

"Alright, but the best we can do is get you a room with two beds." Marco eventually said, much to Sabo's relief as he saw Aces tension leave and he and Luffy started eating again. Sabo held back a sigh of relief and smiled, picking his sandwich up again.

"That's fine Commander, thank you," Sabo said politely, continuing his meal. To be honest, he was surprised Luffy hadn't wolfed his entire meal down, even if Sabo _had_ told him to eat slowly. Looking to his brothers he noticed they were about halfway through the giant pile of foods. Thatch and Marco didn't seem to notice this fact, otherwise, their smiles and passive faces would surely be filled with shock and maybe even disgust at the sight. Sabo pushed those thoughts away quickly.

"We've contacted Shanks as well, yoi," Marco said, distracting Sabo from his earlier thoughts, Ace and Luffy looking up from their food in slight shock. Even though Whitebeard had said they would try to get into contact with the infamous pirate the brothers hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Just like that, the tension was back, almost double what it had been before as all three stopped eating once again.

"Oh?" Sabo asked, afraid he wouldn't be able to say much more and hoping the First Commander wouldn't notice his nervousness. Marco nodded.

"He said he would be here within a weeks time," Marco informed without hesitation or emotion. It was hard to tell if the pirates liked Shanks or not. What if they were enemies of Shanks' and once the man came they would hold the brothers as leverage, or even kill them? But what if they were friends? Why else would Shanks ask for these pirates' help if they were anything but friends? Unless he had never asked for help in the first place and was never looking for the brothers, in which case Sabo had no clue what he or Ace could do if Luffy found that out. The boy would be heartbroken, more so then when Emily had died.

"That's good," Sabo said, hoping to keep up a calm exterior despite his many thoughts. He did his best to go back to eating, seeing Ace trying to do the same.

"Make sure you eat those too Lu." Ace mumbled quietly to Luffy, gesturing to the vegetables that had gone untouched by Luffy. Luffy scrunched his nose up as he looked at the greens.

"But green stuff tastes bad!" Luffy whined, forgetting his previous worry about Shanks altogether. Sabo chanced a look at Thatch, wondering if he had taken offense to the words by assuming Luffy meant the chefs cooking was bad. He could see the chef was trying to hold back the hurt look, but Sabo saw it none-the-less and frowned.

"Not all green stuff tastes bad Lu, see?" Sabo asked, making a show of picking a few pieces of broccoli up with his fork and eating it, Luffy watching with curiosity. Sabo saw Thatch's expression clear, the hurt turning to one of understanding, probably thinking now that Luffy meant green food in general. How could he have known about that horrible green soup anyways?

"Really?" Luffy asked, picking at some of the broccoli on his own plate, and Sabo was glad the youngest was actually using his fork.

"Yeah, remember that one time Makino gave us all Kiwis? They were green and good." Ace encouraged. Luffy looked to be thinking again for a minute before trying the vegetable, everyone watching for his reaction.

"I still like meat better," Luffy said eventually, though he continued eating the vegetables without any more complaints. Sabo and Ace smiled, Ace messing with Luffys hair.

"Of course you do, I don't think you'll ever like anything more than meat." Ace said, rolling his eyes, noticing the fond smile Thatch was directing his way and the slight curve of Marcos' lips, hinting that the man found amusement in the show as well. Ace fought back a blush and glared, looking back to his own food, almost forgetting they were sitting in a room with complete strangers.

"That's not true, I like Ace and Sabo a lot more than meat!" There was no fighting the blush this time, Aces cheeks practically a flaming red, Sabo smirking on his bed in amusement. Though Ace was glaring daggers at the blonde Luffy felt the love and warmth coming from Ace. He could feel it from Sabo too and Luffy basked in the pleasant feelings, digging into his food once more. By now the food was nearly gone, Sabo finishing his own bowl of food, pleasantly full for the first time in many years.

Instead of shouting at the blonde Ace opted to finish his food as well, deciding he would yell at Sabo later. It was at this moment that Thatch and Marco noticed the near-empty platter, Ace, and Luffy eating the last few bites of sandwiches or pieces of fruit.

"Y-you guys ate the whole thing!" Thatch said in the surprise that Ace and Sabo had expected, Luffy peering at the chef with curious eyes as he patted his stomach. He could still eat more because he was Luffy, a bottomless pit, but he felt much better than he had in a long time from having a bigger meal. Ace felt the same way, moving the platter to the bedside table, Sabo putting his now empty bowl on top of it.

"Mm! It was delicious!" Luffy said happily, smiling brightly. He didn't feel any bad feelings from the chef or first commander, only wonder, shock, amazement, and curiosity. He didn't really understand the jumbled emotions but determined they weren't bad and decided it would be ok to talk to them.

"T-the whole thing! That was enough for three, four, five, maybe even six people! If they all ate seconds! I can't believe it, I've never seen someone eat so much before! And not to mention-" Thatch's ramblings were cut off when Marco not so subtly elbowed the man in the side.

"Ah, I mean, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Thatch said, and though he sounded genuine he was still clearly in a state of shock, eyes still wide. Marco looked to have calmed down, not having looked all that shocked in the first place, his eyes only widening slightly and his eyebrows raising.

"No wonder you weren't gaining weight properly, yoi. Do you normally eat that much?" Marco asked, the brothers only hearing genuine curiosity in his voice.

'More then they know.' Ace tapped out as an almost habit. Sabo smiled anyways, Luffy grinning as well, while Ace shifted to lay against the pillows comfortably. Did he ever mention how nice it was to finally lay on a real bed with real pillows and real cushion?

"Normally, yes. Ace and Luffy have a large appetite as I've stated before. I have a much more normal appetite, but after living with these two I guess mine grew a little as well." Sabo said, the last part coming out as more of an afterthought. He omitted the part where Ace and Luffy could actually eat three times that amount, knowing that, if the two pirates knew this, then they probably wouldn't be as hospitable to them. Besides, if they got this much food at every meal time, then the three would be perfectly healthy in no time.

"I can't say I expected large appetites to mean this, but I guess it can't be helped!" Thatch said with a smile, grabbing the now empty platter from the bedside table, placing it in his lap.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The day had passed quickly after lunch. The brothers had been left to themselves for the most part after Marco and Thatch left until dinner when the chef returned with an equal sized amount of food as before. After they had finished the brothers decided to go to sleep, though Ace and Sabo took turns staying up, still uncomfortable with all of them sleeping at once in the presence of so many nurses and needles. By breakfast the next morning Whiskey had cleared them, doing her final check-ups.

"Say _'Ahh!'_ " Whiskey said to Luffy, opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out, making the noise. Luffy copied it, making the noise, as the nurse checked that everything was ok. Nodding in affirmation she leaned away, smiling.

"Well, that's everything. You three are healthy enough to leave the infirmary, but that doesn't mean you're fully recovered. I don't want any of you overexerting yourselves, and definitely no heavy lifting either! Also, if you feel anything bad, headaches, stomach aches, coughing, dizziness, anything, come straight here so I can make sure it's not a chemical causing the issue." Whiskey said in her stern voice, the brothers nodding almost out of habit, fear pooling in all of them at the order that reminded them a little too much of Haru's commanding tone.

"Good. Well, you're free to go. Marco should be here in a minute to show you around." Whiskey said, walking away from the brothers' beds. There was a collective sigh of relief among the three as they watched the nurse leave.

"Finally, I thought she'd never leave!" Ace groaned, slumping back onto the pillows.

"I was beginning to wonder if we would ever finish our check-ups." Sabo groaned as well, also slumping onto his pillows. Normally he was the patient one, but Whiskey had been thorough with her examination, checking anything and everything, the brothers still too scared of the possible enemy nurse to stop her.

"I'm tired... and hungry!" Luffy said, laying against Ace. The check-ups had been mentally exhausting for all three of the brothers, the nurse being so close to all of them putting them all on edge, the brothers watching her every move, no matter how small it was.

"Breakfast should be soon, I hear them making it. I think I hear Marco coming too." Sabo said, closing his eyes as he took in the different sounds, better at filtering out the unnecessary noises on the ship. Luffy nodded.

"Mm, I can smell the food! Oh, and Margo too." Luffy said, holding back the drool at the smell of breakfast, also noticing the scent that Marco gave off along with it. He had also gotten better at distinguishing certain smells of people on the ship. He had Ace and Sabo's scent memorized by heart, along with a few people from the facility due to being with them for years, but everyone on the ship had new scents that he was still learning. The only ones he knew for sure were Thatch, Marco, Whiskey, and Izo's scent. He also, vaguely, knew Whitebeard's scent, but he wasn't all that good at recognizing it yet.

"If only I had gotten X-Ray vision too." Ace mumbled half-heartedly, not really meaning it. Sure, the enhanced senses were cool and all, but the cost they paid for them would never be worth it. Before Ace could ponder that much longer the door opened and Marco walked in, bee-lining towards the brothers immediately. Ace and Sabo sat up straighter at the sight of the commander, Luffy still too tired to bother moving, knowing his brothers would keep him safe if something happened.

"Ready for a tour, yoi?" Marco asked in his usual bored tone. Sabo gave the man a smile, hoping he gave an air of politeness with the action as he nodded.

"We are. Whiskey just gave us the all clear." Sabo answered, removing the blanket from his waist and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, standing. He looked down at his clothes and wrinkled his nose. Though the brothers had been cared for quite well their entire stay with the pirates they were still in their clothes from the facility, which wasn't much, just tattered off-white shirts stained with blood and dirt and even more tattered shorts, the same off-white color and covered in just as much dirt and blood as their shirts. They had no shoes or socks and they hadn't gotten baths either, so they still smelled overly ripe.

"Don't worry, Izos been put in charge of getting you three some clothing. You can take baths after the tour as well, yoi." Marco informed, waving off Sabo's concerns before the blonde even had to speak them.

"Thank you," Sabo said, gratitude behind his words. He was grateful to the pirates for everything they had done for them, but that didn't mean he would hesitate in forgetting that gratitude if the pirates turned on them. Beside him Ace and Luffy were climbing out of bed, Luffy much more sluggishly then Ace, yawning again. Marco nodded again and turned, leading the way out of the infirmary. As they left the nurses waved, but the brothers could barely look at them, much less wave back. Sabo forced a small, polite smile back but that was all he could get himself to do, still extremely off-put by their presences. When the infirmary door closed behind them the three brothers sighed in relief, some of their tenseness leaving their bodies as they followed Marco down the familiar hallway. Luffy was in between the two eldest again, holding their hands as they walked.

The brothers could sense the many pirates out on deck with their haki and were unnerved like before, still not used to the mass amount of pirates on the deck. The four walked in silence, reaching the door to the deck quickly before they were opening it and walking out into the sun once more, something the brothers weren't getting tired of. Even after the few times they had gone out it was just as good as it had been the first time.

"This is the main deck," Marco announced, gesturing to it as they walked. Ace and Sabo nodded while Luffy peered around curiously. He could see people doing chores, but for the most part, everyone was watching them walk by, curiosity in their eyes. Luffy hesitantly put down his wall, allowing everyone's emotions to flow into him, taking notice of the strong feeling of curiousness emanating from practically everyone, feelings of joy or boredom mingling in, though those feelings were much harder to feel when there was so much curiosity overpowering it.

"This is a large crew," Sabo noted, glancing at the many pirates that surrounded them, body tensing up again along with Aces. Marco nodded.

"Yeah, we're definitely not a small group, yoi." Marco agreed. Ace was frowning, biting back his snarky comments and opting to glare at everyone, though trying to make it a less heated one then he wanted it to be. They continued across the deck, Marco pointing out different spots, like the spot where Whitebeard was sitting, watching everyone with a smile, or the crows nests at the top of the giant masts. Eventually, they were finished with the main deck tour and heading to the galley according to Marco.

'Smells good!' Luffy tapped to his brothers, trying to hold back the drool, licking his lips. Sabo smiled, shaking his head, while Ace rolled his eyes. They entered, what they were assuming was, the galley, Marco disappearing into the room. The brothers followed quickly, not wanting to get left on the deck with the unknown pirates. The room was huge, though it had to be to fit the large crew, and they could see into the kitchen where there were cooks preparing lunch, breakfast having passed a while ago now.

"Hey, Marco! Oh, and our guests too! Nice to see you three out of the infirmary!" Thatch called as he walked out of the kitchen, smiling brightly and waving. The brothers fidgeted but said nothing as the man made his way over.

"So what're you guys up to?" Thatch asked as he reached them.

"I'm giving them the tour of the ship, yoi. Oyaji wanted them to at least know their way around if they're gonna be here for a week." Marco explained, crossing his arms. Luffy, not having put his wall back up, felt Thatch's enthusiasm and happiness, the feeling rubbing off on Luffy himself as he started feeling jittery as well, fighting a smile that wanted to stretch across his face. Normally Luffy enjoyed the feelings of joy, practically fed off them, but he didn't want to make Sabo or Ace mad by acting weird so he forced himself to put the wall back up, blocking Thatch's feelings and feeling that happy jitteriness fade away. Luffy let out a breath of relief from this, ignoring the quizzical look Ace sent his way at the sound.

"Makes sense. Well, be sure to come back for lunch then!" Thatch said, his smile never fading. Sabo put on his smile as the chef looked his way and nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it." The blonde replied, flinching internally at the words. To be honest, he didn't know if he could force himself back in this room when there would be hundreds of pirates crammed in here at the same time, much less try and get Ace and Luffy to join as well. That was an issue for later though, no matter if he could feel Aces glares burning into him from the corner of his eye. He also was definitely ignoring the taps that Ace was having Luffy relay to him, knowing the straw-hatted teen wasn't this creative when coming up with swears to yell at the blonde.

"Why don't I show you three where you'll be staying, yoi?" Marco asked, turning to face them, Ace spinning to face the man, wiping the murderous glare off his face within seconds, though he was still scowling.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Ace said, ignoring the slightly shocked look that Thatch wore due to the fact that Ace had actually spoken. Out of the three, Sabo was definitely the one to speak for the brothers, and occasionally Luffy would pipe up, but it was rare to hear the freckled teen speak instead. Marco took this in stride though and simply nodded, already making his way to the door.

"Well, uh, I guess I'll get back to cooking then!" Thatch mumbled, spinning on his heels and heading back into the kitchen. Ace held back a snicker at the sight by remembering his anger towards Sabo.

"We put your room close to the galley and bathroom so you wouldn't get lost, but if you ever need help just ask. The commanders are also in this hall, my room is just there, yoi. Oyaji's is down there as well." Marco explained, gesturing down the hallway, showing them his room which was two away from theirs and Whitebeards which was at the end of the hall. Marco opened the door to the brothers' room and they walked in, scanning it quickly. There were two beds like they had asked, bolted to the ground to keep from moving when the ship hit rough waters. There was also a desk and chair, also bolted down, and a closet. It was a pretty spacious room, and the brothers would be fine with spending the entire week in there.

"Those are all the important places you'll need to know, but again, if you need help, just ask." Marco reiterated, the brothers all nodding, wanting to be left alone. Marco nodded, glancing at the three again.

"I'll come by when lunch is ready if you're in here, but you're free to wander around if you want, yoi. Izo should be by soon with clothes as well." Marco said, already making his way to the door.

"Thank you, Commander, we appreciate all your help," Sabo said with a tense smile, wanting the man gone so the three could truly relax for a bit. With not much else Marco left the room, all three brothers sighing loudly in relief.

"Fiiinnnalllyyy!" Ace groaned, face-planting into the bed in the corner of the room. Sabo rolled his eyes but couldn't help but feel the same way. This was the first time the brothers had been left alone the entire time they had been on the ship, always having been in a room with a nurse.

"This room smells a lot better than the medicine room!" Luffy said in a pleased manner, smiling as he looked around the room, pulling out the drawers of the desk and poking his head in the empty closet.

"And it's much quieter," Sabo said happily, closing his eyes and relishing in the fact that if he drowned out the noises outside of the room it was blissfully silent. Ace rolled his eyes.

"I'm just happy were away from those damn nurses." Ace said, flipping onto his back and staring at the ceiling, arms behind his head and legs crossed.

"Ne, Ace!" Luffy cried cheerfully, running and jumping onto the man's stomach, causing him to make an _'oof!'_ noise.

"What Luffy?" Ace groaned out, wincing a little at the sudden impact but containing himself.

"I like this place a lot better than the facility! They feed us and help us, and they're gonna give us clothes, and we can take baths-"

"Since when did you like baths?" Sabo asked, interrupting the rambling boy. Luffy paused, turning to look at him with a look of confusion as if wondering the same himself.

"I dunno. You guys stink though." Luffy said, scrunching his nose up at the reminder. Sabo laughed while Ace rolled his eyes.

"Well duh." He muttered, but Luffy either didn't hear or didn't care.

"Anyway, the chef is always happy too, and when I feel peoples emotions they're happy too, except Margo, he's always muddled, like he's bored, but sometimes there's a little bit of happy in it, oh, and the warm feeling too!" Luffy continued. Before responding Sabo tapped out that he could hear someone coming their way, Izo, before changing the subject.

"We should take baths when we get our new clothes, so we don't have to keep smelling each other," Sabo said, scrunching up his own nose at the thought. Though they didn't have Luffy's sense of smell Ace and Sabo could still smell how bad they smelled.

"For once, I can't wait to have a bath." Ace said, pushing Luffy off his stomach and sitting up, ready for their visitor to knock at any moment.

"Mm! I feel gross!" Luffy whined, pulling at his shirt and grimacing at himself. Finally, Izo reached their room, a knock resounding as Sabo put on a smile, opening the door. As expected, Izo stood there holding a neatly folded pile of clothing.

"Hello there boys! I've brought you all a new set of clothing. There are a few extra shirts and things for throughout the week but there isn't much, after all, I didn't have the material to make a whole new wardrobe from scratch." Izo said, handing the pile to Sabo who took them, placing them on the bed to sort later.

"Thank you, Commander, we appreciate your kindness," Sabo said with another polite smile. Being on this pirate ship for so long was a real test to Sabo's abilities to put on different masks.

"It was no problem. You can go take baths now if you'd like. There's no one in the bathroom at the moment, I made sure, I didn't think you three would be wanting any company." Izo said, pulling out a fan and hiding his face. The brothers did relax marginally at the information, not having thought about that little fact.

"You're definitely right about that. Thank you again, Commander." Sabo said, this time meaning it a little more then he had the first time. Izo smiled, though it was obscured by the fan, and nodded, turning and leaving the room with a wave. Another sigh of relief escaped Sabo as he closed the door, turning to face his brothers.

"Well, I guess we should hurry and bathe before anyone decides they want to as well," Sabo said, moving to the pile of clothes they had been given and sorting them. He was actually slightly amazed that they looked to be the right sizes for the brothers and sorted them according to that, making three piles for each brother. Deciding to hang them all up later Sabo pulled a shirt and pants for each brother out, as well as towels that were at the bottom of the pile and cradling them all carefully.

"Alright, let's go," Sabo said to his brothers, the two nodding and following him closely out the door, scanning their surroundings rapidly. There was no one in the hall so they weren't stopped on their way to the bathroom, the three rushing in and closing the door quickly behind them.

"Finally, time for a bath!" Ace exclaimed happily, already throwing his ruined shirt off, moving to heat the water up, courtesy of his firepower. Sabo rolled his eyes but also removed his shirt.

"Come on Lu, we better stop the hot head before he makes the water too hot," Sabo said, Luffy nodding with a bright grin. As Luffy removed his shirt Sabo couldn't help but notice the burn marks covering his brother's shoulder from tests Haru had performed. All three brothers had lasting scars from that place, and Sabo was grateful Luffy's devil fruit kept him from getting anything more than scars from burns, but it still made his blood boil in anger as he looked at the marks. He and Ace had plenty of burns and scars littering their chests and arms, but they had always done their best to ignore them, pretend they weren't there.

The brothers bathed in relative silence, all of them enjoying the relaxing heat soothing their sore muscles. They took turns washing each other's hair for each other, Sabo in charge of making sure Luffy and Ace didn't sink under the water, and by the end of the bath they were finally clean and feeling better than they had since they had been kidnapped.

"Man, I feel great!" Ace cried happily, stretching his arms wide over his head as he stepped out of the bath, wrapping a towel around himself and using his devil fruit to heat his body up and dry himself.

"Mm! And we all smell good again!" Luffy cheered just as happily, accepting Sabos help out of the tub, slightly sluggish from a mix of the water and having already been tired before the bath. Sabo smiled and laughed a little at the two but got out as well, moving towards their new clothes.

"It seems Izo is pretty good at making clothes, these are all our sizes," Sabo said, tossing Ace and Luffy their clothes while taking his own.

Ace had gotten a yellow button-down shirt with short sleeves that he didn't bother buttoning and black shorts that reached his knees with an orange belt and brown boots that he happily slipped on. Sabo had gotten a blue button-down shirt with long sleeves and a pair of light blue pants with black boots. Luffy had been given a blue tank top with the numbers 56 on it in white and blue jean shorts and sandals which Luffy slipped on happily, swinging his feet from where he sat on a bench, waiting for Ace and Sabo.

"Do you think we could fit in a nap before lunch?" Ace asks, stretching again, the relaxing bath making him tired. Sabo shrugged.

"Maybe. We should head back to our room now anyway." Sabo said with a shrug, picking up their towels and destroyed clothes. Ace and Luffy nodded their agreement and followed Sabo out the door, the three moving quickly back into their room. Luffy and Ace immediately went to the bed, laying down and falling asleep almost instantly, leaving Sabo to deal with all the clothes. Sabo shook his head but smiled none the less as he began hanging their clothes up, looking around their small room again before sitting on the unoccupied bed.

"Now we just have to get through the rest of the week."


	22. Three Meals A Day Keeps The Nurses Away

_"How far do you think a rubber body can stretch?"_

_"Do you think everything is rubber? Even the organs?"_

_"Begin the next test."_

_"How long do you think he can stay awake while we do this?"_

_The words were ringing inside Luffy's head as he spun around in confusion, but saw nothing but darkness. He had to get out, he had to find Ace and Sabo, they had to get out together._

_"Haru, the test isn't taking effect."_

_"Up the dosage."_

_The sound of the man's voice sent violent shivers down Luffys spine, the words echoing loudly in his ears. Out of the darkness a familiar man walked out with a malicious grin, clipboard in hand._

_"Ah, number 11097, thought you could try escaping, hm? Well, it seems your brothers are going to be paying for that one." Haru practically cooed out, spinning on his heels and walking back into the darkness, laughing maliciously in the silence._

_His brothers? They were here too? What did Haru mean by paying? They didn't have money! Luffy moved to run after the doctor, but no matter how fast he ran the man continued moving further away from him. Luffy was near tears now, confused, scared, and alone._

_"Ace?! Sabo?!" Luffy cried the words out loudly, hoping that one of his brothers would hear him. If anyone would hear him it would be Sabo! Instead of getting an answer, or any noise at all, Luffy's cries were met with silence._

_"ACE! SABO!" Luffy screamed, spinning around as he looked at the blackness around him like it was trying to swallow him whole. Again, there was nothing but a faint echo of his own words fading away._

_Luffy sank to his knees._

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Luffy, get up!" Ace muttered almost harshly to the youngest, shaking his shoulder in an attempt to jostle the teen awake. Sabo was sitting on the bed with him, looking as concerned as Ace felt. Luffy was curled up in a ball beside them, a distressed look on his face as he made small whimpering noises, tears falling fast down his sleeping face.

"Come on Luffy, your just dreaming." Sabo tried, rubbing his brother's arm in an attempt to soothe the boy. There was still no response from the sleeping boy and it was worrying Ace and Sabo. Right as Sabo was going to try again he heard footsteps heading their way, recognizing them as Marco's light yet determined steps.

"The first commanders coming!" Sabo hissed quietly to Ace, spinning to look at the door. Ace growled lowly, shielding Luffy as much as he could so that anyone at the door wouldn't be able to see him.

"Of course he is!" Ace spat out, glaring at the door as if it were Marco himself. Sabo listened, hoping the man wasn't coming to their room, but when he heard the footsteps get closer they also got slower, something people did when they were getting ready to stop moving. Sabo cursed under his breath and stood up, making his way to the door as he heard the man knock. Ace was still glaring and shielding Luffy, but he was also shaking him more, trying to get him to wake up before the commander noticed the boy and started asking questions.

"How can I help you, commander?" Sabo asked, a tense smile on his face as he opened the door for the man. Marco seemed to take notice of the tension that was in the room and frowned a little but shrugged it off.

"I came by to tell you that lunch is ready, yoi," Marco informed. Sabo nodded, becoming even tenser if possible.

"Thank you, we'll be by shortly," Sabo said, closing the door without anything further. He was going to worry about how the pirate took the interaction later, right now his priority was on Luffy, his brother who was stuck in a nightmare. He crossed the room and was back at Luffy's side within seconds, doing his best to help Ace wake him up.

All three of them had experienced nightmares on a regular basis, but sometimes they could get stuck in them and couldn't get up. They didn't understand why it happened, because shouldn't you wake up when two people are shaking you and yelling at you to wake up? They chalked it up to the doctors injecting them with something that caused it. Either way, whenever one of them got stuck in their nightmares the other two would try their hardest to wake them up, doing anything they could think of. Sabo always wondered that, if no one was there to wake them up, would they be stuck in their nightmares forever? He really hoped not, praying that the three of them all didn't get stuck in one of these nightmares at the same time.

"Wake up Luffy!" Ace hissed out, trying not to be too loud to alert anyone passing by their room, but loud enough for Luffy to hear. Sabo frowned at the lack of response and sighed, imbuing haki into his fingers and pinching Luffy, hoping it would help him wake up. Sometimes using pain as a way to wake them up worked, but not every time. The pinch seemed to work a little, relieving the two.

"Good job Lu, your dreaming, ok? All you gotta do is open your eyes." Sabo encouraged in a gentle tone.

"Yeah, that chef made lunch, I bet there's gonna be a lot of food!" Ace added, and although the three were worried about eating in the galley with others the two oldest were more focused on waking Luffy. The youngest started to shift, the tears gradually stopping and his expression evening out, only to furrow in pain and sadness again as he bolted upright, breathing heavy and looking around quickly, eyes darting across everything in the room.

"Finally!" Ace sighed out, assessing Luffys emotional state. He was very clearly panicked and distressed, and though they wanted to hug him they knew that might not do any good. Whenever they woke up from one of these nightmares they didn't always know what was happening.

"Luffy, your ok, we're all safe and together," Sabo said, continuing to use his gentle tone. Luffy glanced at Sabo, fear, and confusion in his eyes, but his breathing started slowing, returning back to normal.

"Yeah, don't worry, we're free." Ace said with such conviction that it seemed to snap Luffy out of his stupor, the boy blinking a few times, eyes finally focusing on Ace and Sabo.

"Free?" Luffy asked in a small, timid voice. The two nodded, Sabo, taking the chance to rub Luffys back now that he seemed more focused and awake.

"That's right Luffy, we're free and safe and we've got lunch waiting for us," Sabo said soothingly, further calming Luffy down, allowing him to take a few recovering breaths before the blonde stood.

"And speaking of, we should go. We don't want them coming here and if we don't go they might send us back to the infirmary." Sabo said with a frown. Even as he tried to convince Ace and Luffy that they had to go, he himself didn't want to. Ace frowned.

"But Sabo, there's gonna be a whole lot of pirates in there." Ace growled out, trying to stay calm and quiet, but just the thought of the number of people in there set him on edge. Luffy hugged his knees to his chest, not voicing his thoughts but showing them as clearly as if he had spoken.

"I know that, it's not like I want to do it either! But I'd much rather sit through a few minutes of that then a few hours, or even seconds, in the infirmary. Its the lesser of two evils." Sabo tried reasoning, both with his brothers and himself.

"Or, option three, stay in here and ignore everyone who tries talking to us." Ace muttered. Sabo glared at him.

"And starve? Ace, we've gotta last until Shanks gets here at least. You wouldn't be able to survive even a few days without food before I would force you to go to the infirmary." Sabo said, knowing just how fast Ace and Luffy's bodies burned calories. Ace glared back at Sabo but before he could say anything Sabo interrupted him.

"Look, I don't like it, you don't like it, and Luffy doesn't like it, but we have to. We can't just not eat, and we have to stay on their good sides. This is how we do that, its the safest option." Sabo reasoned. Ace still looked like he wanted to argue, and Sabo was sure he would, so he said the first thing that came to mind to get his stubborn brother to listen.

"If you don't I'll go by myself!" Sabo said in a rush, not really thinking over his words but trying to look calm. He was freaking out just by the idea, and Ace and Luffy's widening eyes showed their own shock at the thought, but Sabo tried steeling himself, crossing his arms and trying to put on an air of confidence.

"W-What?! You wouldn't! You're bluffing!" Ace stuttered out, standing from the bed to examine Sabo closer for any signs of cracking. The blonde was sure Luffy could feel his fear and hoped the boy wouldn't comment on it as he looked at Ace directly in the eyes.

"Oh am I?" He asked simply, uncrossing his arms and making his way to the door. He tried to keep his hands from shaking as he felt Ace and Luffy's eyes glued to his back, watching his every move as he lifted his hand to the doorknob, grabbing it and taking a deep breath before pulling it open.

"Sabo, don't be an idiot!" Ace hissed quietly at the blonde now that the door was open. Sabo tried to ignore Ace and his own thoughts as he stepped out. He could hear a quick shuffle of movement from the room as he walked out and heard Ace curse before Luffy was running up to his side and grabbing his hand. The boy looked petrified and was holding onto Sabo's hand almost too tightly, but Sabo allowed the pain, letting it ground him as he looked at the straw-hatted boy staring up at him.

"I-I don't want Sabo to go alone..." Luffy said in the same quiet, timid voice as before, shifting nervously from foot to foot, very obviously terrified.

"Fucking hell." He heard Ace mutter behind him as he left the room as well, closing the door behind him as he begrudgingly walked up beside him too, shuffling his feet. Sabo looked at him for a moment but didn't say anything, internally relieved that he wouldn't have to go alone, sending Luffy warm, comforting feelings in thanks. He knew that it must have been hard for Luffy to follow him, especially right after being stuck in a nightmare, but he had come anyway, and Sabo was proud of him. The three made the trek to the galley in silence, Aces hands in his pockets as he kept an eye out on their surroundings. No one was in the hallway, and even as they got closer to the galley they didn't see that many people, most probably already in the galley or elsewhere on the ship.

"Alright, this'll be easy, we can eat quickly and then get out," Sabo said, taking some deep breaths. All of them were fidgeting now, and they looked on the verge of panic attacks, but they did their best to calm down.

"Don't even bother with manners either, there's no use," Sabo said as an afterthought, knowing it was true. Manners were ingrained in his brain and he couldn't _not_ use them, but Ace and Luffy had to force themselves to, and if they tried that now, they wouldn't be able to. Ace and Luffy nodded, Luffy trying to soak in all the warm happy feelings he could as his stomach turned and twisted, making him nauseous. He was hungry, but he was worried too, and he didn't know if he could do this.

"Let's go," Sabo said softly, placing a hand on the door and pausing for a second to gather himself before pushing it open. Even outside the three could hear the loud chatter from the pirates, but as they walked in timidly it seemed to get even louder. No one noticed their entrance, everyone focused on their own conversations or food, which made the brothers feel a little better as they stood in the doorway, not quite sure what to do now. Sabo hadn't thought that much ahead.

He could see Whitebeard and the other Commanders sitting at their own table, Whitebeard noticing them first and then the rest of the Commanders as well. This put them on edge as Marco stood and made his way over to them, gaining more and more of the pirates' attention as conversations slowly stopped and heads turned their way in curiosity. The three tensed at the attention and Sabo was beginning to regret coming here, deciding that Aces plan seemed much better than this, but couldn't dwell on that as Marco reached them. Sabo could see Aces anger rising, not because he was really angry with anything, but because he didn't like the attention and didn't know how to deal with the uneasy feelings, channeling them to anger instead.

"Everybody get back to eating, yoi," Marco called out, grabbing the brothers' attention. Luffy shifted, staring at Marco with a look that even Sabo didn't understand, deciding to ask him about it later.

"Sorry about them, yoi. Thatch made you three some food, you can come sit with us if you want." Marco said with an air of indifference to the situation which helped the three be put at ease, though still very obviously tense.

"Thank you, Commander." Sabo managed to say, albeit weakly, hoping the man wouldn't comment on it. The commander didn't, though he did look at Sabo for an extra second longer, glancing over the other two as well before nodding and turning, the brothers following close behind, not wanting to get left behind when there was still plenty of eyes on them. The group walked in silence until they reached the table where the Commanders and Whitebeard were sitting, Marco gesturing to the empty seats as he sat down in his spot.

The brothers hesitated a moment before sitting, nearly jumping in shock when Thatch came out of nowhere, placing dishes in front of them piled high with food that smelled just as good as always. Sabo forced himself to start eating, going at a normal pace, while Ace and Luffy sat looking around apprehensively. Sabo knew they were wondering how the crew would react to their eating habits, and Sabo wondered when they had started to care about what others thought. Eventually, the two started eating as well and while it wasn't as mannerly and neat as Sabo it wasn't as messy and fast as they normally ate either.

"You know," The three immediately tensed at the sound of someone speaking, scared of what they were going to say. They hadn't really planned on talking to anyone and were hoping no one would talk to them in response, but that obviously wasn't going to be the case.

"I didn't believe Thatch when he said you three ate a lot, but I guess its true!" A man they hadn't talked to before said, a cigar in his mouth. The brothers didn't know how to respond as they slowed in their eating, glancing at each other.

"Why wouldn't you believe me? Have I ever steered you wrong?" Thatch asked in mock hurt, holding his heart dramatically. The man rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh.

"Is that even a question I need to answer?" He asked, Thatch dramatically falling to his knees where he stood behind the brothers.

"Your words wound me Fossa!" Thatch cried, crocodile tears filling his eyes. The brothers started eating at their normal pace again, seeing as the attention wasn't directed on them anymore. They just wanted to finish quickly so they could leave.

"Ah Thatch, your such a drama queen!" Another person laughed.

"Are not! I'll have you know, Haruta, that I'm the drama king thank you!" Thatch said, getting over his mock sadness as he sprung to his feet, placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. All the commanders collectively rolled their eyes at the chef, Haruta laughing loudly. The brothers all stopped eating at the name Thatch had said, freezing mid bites and staring at Haruta with wide eyes. One of the commanders noticed first, raising an eyebrow at them.

"You guys ok?" They asked, but the brothers weren't really listening.

"Haru... ta..." Luffy mumbled out softly, everyone's attention on them now. Haruta was especially confused, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah, that's my name, why?" Haruta asked, the brothers collectively shivering as memories of a certain doctor filled their minds.

"Ruta..." Luffy mumbled again, a little louder than last time.

"What?" Fossa asked, everyone still very confused, even Whitebeard who was watching the interaction closely. Luffy turned to look back at his food, picking at it with his fork and moving it around.

"Your names Ruta now," Luffy said, his brothers seeming to snap out of their trances as well as they turned their attention back to their food as well, though none of them were interested in eating anymore as they picked at it, taking bites out of habit rather than hunger.

"My names... Ruta?" Haruta questioned in pure confusion, the commanders giving each other equal looks of uncertainty. They didn't get any more responses from any of the brothers so they all shrugged.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ruta!" Thatch said, smiling widely and placing his hand out as if meeting Haruta for the first time. Haruta rolled his eyes but gripped Thatch's hand in his.

"Nice to meet you too, though you never gave me your name poofy hair," Haruta said with a grin, the commanders' confusion turning into joy as they all laughed once more. Marco shared a glance with Whitebeard, both wondering just what exactly happened a moment ago but decided now wasn't the time to ask the brothers, instead deciding to watch them once more as they ate.

Lunch continued on this way, the brothers eating quickly while the commanders joked with each other, ignoring the brothers for the most part. When the brothers finished lunch they quickly got up from their seats and practically ran back to their room, Ace nearly slamming the door shut as they all piled into their room, leaning against the door and breathing heavily. Luffy and Sabo sat on the floor in front of him, doing the same.

"That was torture." Ace groaned out, sliding to the ground, back still against the door. Luffy and Sabo nodded in agreement, falling back, laying down on the ground and staring at the ceiling.

"Only have to do that three times a day for the rest of the week." Sabo huffed out. Ace groaned again, his head falling against the door.

"Do we have to? Maybe we can skip breakfast." Ace tried, wanting to do that as little as possible. Sabo frowned, raising his head to glare at the oldest.

"Not when you two barely make it to lunch even with breakfast! You need the nutrients." Sabo said, letting his head fall again.

"Screw nutrients, I was just fine in the facility." Ace mumbled out, immediately regretting the words as they came out of his mouth. Luffy looked at him in silent shock, feeling Sabo's anger rising as the blonde practically jumped up off the floor.

"Are you kidding me Ace?! You were not ' _just fine_ ' in the facility! If anything you were just one step from death!" Sabo shouted, angrier then Luffy had ever felt the normally cool-headed brother to be. The youngest was watching the two with wide eyes, not quite sure what to do. Sometimes it was better to just let the two yell at each other. The warm feelings usually came back after they did so Luffy decided to sit silently and not get in the way of his arguing brothers, quietly standing and moving to sit on the bed.

"Well... isn't going to eat with the pirates the same thing? Except were willingly going one step closer to our death?" Ace asked, ready to say anything to keep them from going to any more meals with the people who could easily kill them in seconds without warning. Sabo's glare never left his face and if anything it only intensified.

"No, it's not the same thing, not at all! Were actually being helped here, getting fed, getting proper medical treatment, and all we have to do is smile and nod and bear with it for a week! I know you hate it but it'll be over soon and we can go home." Sabo said, his voice slowly getting quieter at the end, glare softening slowly until it fell completely and he was frowning. All three of them went silent as they remembered their home, the forest, the tree house, Dadan, even the trash heap known as the Grey Terminal.

"Look," Sabo eventually said, breathing out heavily, as if exhausted.

"We only need to eat three times a day. Other than that, we can stay here, only leave when we absolutely have to." Sabo said softly, looking at Ace with almost pleading eyes, not wanting to continue fighting with him on the matter. Ace was silent another moment before he nodded his agreement, crossing his arms and pouting slightly.

"Yeah, fine. I can't wait for this week to be over." Ace grumbled angrily, standing and joining Luffy on the bed. Sabo smiled slightly, standing as well and shaking his head.

"In the meantime, why don't we work on moving this bed?" Sabo asked, gesturing to the second bed a few feet away from the one in the corner that Ace and Luffy were on.

That became the mission for the three brothers for the next few hours while waiting for dinner. Everything in their room was bolted to the ground so it didn't move around during storms or rough waters so it was hard for the brothers to figure out how to pry the bolts out of the ground. After rummaging around and finding nothing that could help them the three sat on the ground, staring at the bolts in question.

"I could melt them," Ace muttered, glaring at the bolts. Sabo shook his head.

"If you melt them then the pirates will get suspicious." The blonde said thoughtfully, finger on his chin as he thought about their predicament.

"Oh! What if we pull reeally~ hard?!" Luffy asked, raising his hand and smiling brightly at the idea. Ace turned to glare at Luffy, Sabo holding back a laugh.

"We can't pull them out idiot, we wouldn't be able to grip them!" Ace said, gesturing to the bolts that were rounded at the top, giving them no way to grip and even attempt to pull them out.

"You could reshape the tops," Sabo said, wondering if this plan of his would work.

"What?" Ace asked confusion showing on his face. Sabo shrugged, gesturing to the bolts again.

"The tops. You could reshape them, heat them up enough to mold them into a grippable shape, and then if we can pull them out and move the bed we can put them back and you can mold them back to their original shape." Sabo explained, Luffy nodding the entire time as if he understood the plan perfectly while Ace frowned.

"Alright." Ace mumbled, moving closer to the bed and heating his fingers up as hot as possible, gripping the bolt tightly. It took a few minutes but eventually, it got pliable enough that Ace was able to mold a shape out of the top, letting go and moving onto the next one, letting the previous one cool. He continued doing this while Luffy and Sabo talked about what they could do after, Luffy wishing they had chalk or something to draw with.

Eventually, Sabo's plan had worked, though he was even surprised when they were able to pry the bolts out of the ground with their bare hands. He knew they were strong, but he didn't think they would have been able to do it so easily. They didn't think too long on it though as they moved the bed closer to the other, replacing the bolts in the legs and having Ace remold them.

By then it was dinner, and Marco came once again to tell them, this time the brothers leaving with the first commander and following him to the galley, wanting to finish dinner as quickly as possible. Like last time all attention was on them as they walked in, but Marco once again shooed them away, guiding them to the table where the Commanders and Captain sat, all of them greeting the brothers with smiles and waves.

Someone had mentioned that the brothers hadn't been properly introduced to the Commanders so one by one the brothers learned their names.

Marco, Thatch, Izo, Jozu, Fossa, Haruta, or as the brothers adamantly stuck to, Ruta, Vista, Blamenco, Rakuyo, Namur, Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdew, Atmos, and finally Jiru. It was a lot of names and faces and Sabo was sure that Ace and Luffy had already forgotten most of them in the few seconds after the introductions had been made. Sabo did his best to remember them though, not wanting it to be an issue during their time on the ship.

"I didn't see you out at all after lunch, did you guys stay in your room?" Thatch had questioned at one point, making the brothers pause in their eating like they normally did whenever they were spoken to.

"Yes, we were tired so we stayed in there all day," Sabo said carefully, hoping the chef wouldn't have an issue with it. Thatch smiled brightly though, nodding.

"Makes sense, you've only been out of the infirmary a day after all! You should try and come out tomorrow though, I'm sure its no fun to stay cooped up in there all day!" Thatch encouraged, Sabo, giving him a small smile and nod.

"Yeah, maybe." The blonde said softly, not having any intention of leaving the room tomorrow, or at all. Pleased with the response Thatch returned to eating before someone in the kitchen called him away. Dinner hadn't been much more eventful, but the commanders did keep glancing at the brothers like they wanted to ask them something but would stop themselves. It unsettled the three and when they finished their food they left just as quickly as they had left lunch, not looking back once.

"This is gonna be a long week!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> The brothers are now eating in the galley, which in turn forces them to be around large groups of people at once. Obviously, this is a big issue for them, especially seeing as they believe all of the Whitebeards are bloodthirsty pirates just waiting to attack them.
> 
> I feel like Sabo would have to be the one to force them to go eat in the galley, mostly because Ace would be too stubborn and wouldn't go without prompting and Luffy would be too nervous, so that would leave Sabo to force them all to go. Even though his actions were a bit rash, I imagine that Sabo would have left like he did because anything was better than having to see nurses, hence the title of this chapter.
> 
> If it means avoiding nurses, the brothers would do almost anything.


	23. Warmth Overload

The Whitebeard pirates all watched as the three brothers rushed out of the galley, practically running back to their room. The majority shrugged it off, returning back to their food with mutters of, ' _strange kids_ ' and leaving it at that, but the commanders shared glances with each other, turning to their Captain.

"That's the second time they ran out of here the second they finished their food," Kingdew mentioned, taking a bite of his own plate. Thatch was walking back now, pouting.

"Aw, I missed them?" Thatch whined, sitting beside Izo who rolled his eyes, pulling out his fan.

"You didn't miss much Thatch, they ran away like last time, didn't even say goodbye," Izo said, though there wasn't any malice or annoyance in his tone as he spoke.

"Don't take offense children, those three brats probably aren't comfortable with eating in such a crowded space," Whitebeard said calmly, though even he was slightly disappointed that the three teens hadn't gotten used to the size of the crew yet. He knew they wouldn't be comfortable immediately but he had hoped that they would have seen by now that they weren't a threat. He supposed that they had their reasons though and would continue being patient with them.

"They don't seem to like the attention, yoi," Marco added in support of his father's words. The commanders nodded, all remembering how the brothers became uncomfortable when they were the center of attention.

"They also don't like Haruta's name either!" Vista said, nudging Haruta with his elbow. Haruta grinned, rolling his eyes.

"Its 'Ruta' now Vista!" Haruta playfully scolded, remembering the looks the brothers had when they heard Haruta's name mentioned.

"It is strange how strong of a reaction they had to your name though," Blenheim said, frowning in thought. The commanders all nodded, wondering about it as well.

"Maybe there was someone with a similar name? You know, in the facility?" Thatch questioned.

"Probably. The only thing we can do now is try and make them as comfortable as possible." Izo said sternly, not wanting anyone to make the teens upset. The commanders once again nodded, returning to their food.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"This week can't end soon enough!" Ace groaned into the pillow. It was the next day now and they had only gotten through breakfast so far today, the meal going as it normally did.

"I'm bored!" Luffy whined, sitting on the edge of the two pushed together beds, kicking his feet against the ground and frowning in boredom. Before Ace could shout at the youngest Sabo spoke up, scooting closer to Luffy and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe we'll find something we can use to draw with, yeah?" Sabo asked with a smile, sending Luffy some warm feelings that made the raven smile back, nodding.

"Mm! I'm gonna look in the desk again! Oh, and maybe theres some dust we can draw in!" Luffy said, already off the bed and digging through the very empty desk. Sabo sighed in relief that the boy was preoccupied for at least a few minutes, turning to Ace.

"I can't wait for the week to be over either Ace, but you need to calm down, Luffy can feel your emotions too, remember? If you keep up the angry attitude he'll pick up on it and I don't want to deal with two hot-headed brothers at the moment." Sabo scolded Ace quietly, noticing the freckled teens eyes widened at the mention that Luffy could still feel their emotions. They forgot about that at times, only noticing when it was too late and Luffy was acting completely out of character due to their feelings influencing his.

"Sorry," Ace mumbled, already trying to send more warm feelings to Luffy, forcing himself to bury the anger that had been there seconds before. Sabo sighed, running a hand through his hair, which definitely needed to be cut. Glancing around he noticed Ace and Luffy's hair, which was in just as desperate a need for a haircut as well, all reached a little past their shoulders. At the facility, the doctors had cut their hair from time to time when it got past their shoulders, but now they were out and didn't have any scissors to help them.

"It's not your fault, with everything that's happened all of our emotions are off." Sabo sighed out, resting his chin in his hand, elbow on his knee.

"We should set some goals for ourselves so we can keep ourselves busy." The blonde suddenly said, the thought making him brighten. Ace lifted his head to look at Sabo, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Goals? Like what?" Ace asked. Luffy was done rummaging in the empty desk, a pout on his face as he came back to the bed, sitting down and listening to Sabo as well.

"Well, small things, like... finding something to draw with! Or something to cut our hair with." Sabo suggested, Luffy brightening as well.

"Like a scavenger hunt!" Luffy said happily. Sabo smiled, nodding.

"Exactly. Whenever we go out for meals or the bathroom we should keep a lookout for things to keep us entertained. It'll give us something to do and keep us busy." Sabo said, Ace nodding as well, liking the idea.

"Alright. Hey Luffy, I bet I can find something to draw with faster than you can!" Ace challenged with a wide grin, Luffy taking the bait immediately and arguing that he would. Sabo laughed quietly, happy that they were able to fall into this small bit of normalcy after everything that had happened in the facility. They were far from healed when it came to all the emotional scarring that the facility had inflicted on them, but when the three were together, and for the moment, safe, it made things bearable. They were able to forget that seven years of their lives were spent in hell.

After Ace and Luffy argued for a little bit the brothers decided to head to the bathroom, none of them wanting to let the other go alone, so they went together. When they were in their cell there had been no privacy when it came to using the bathroom, so the three weren't uncomfortable standing in the same room. They filed into the bathroom, shutting the door before anyone could turn into the hallway and see them.

While waiting they rummaged around the bathroom, looking for their first few items. Something to draw with and something to cut their hair with. Seeing as they were in a bathroom they concluded they were most likely to find something to cut their hair with, and they were right, Luffy presenting a sharp pair of scissors out of a drawer, holding them proudly in the air.

"I win!" Luffy called out happily, Sabo quickly grabbing the scissors from the boy's hand before he could somehow manage to cause accidental harm with them.

"Good job Lu, now let's head back," Sabo said with a smile, the three standing in silence as Sabo listened to make sure no one was in the hallway or heading their way. When he gave the all clear they quickly left the bathroom, speed walking back to their own room and filing in quickly, closing the door quietly.

"So, who wants to go first?" Sabo asked, holding the scissors up and snipping them a few times, smiling. Ace volunteered, going to sit in the desk chair. They didn't have a brush so Sabo opted to use his fingers, pulling apart the tangles and knots slowly as to not hurt the oldest, though even if he didn't he was sure it wouldn't bother Ace.

Luffy was hopping around them excitedly, ready to watch Sabo cut Aces hair. The older two were pretty sure that if they had more activities for Luffy he wouldn't have wanted to watch, but with how bored the youngest was watching Sabo do Aces hair was more than entertaining.

"How short do you want it?" Sabo asked after he finished pulling out the tangles. Ace shrugged, not having thought about it.

"About this much." Ace said, putting his hand about midway between his head and shoulder. Sabo nodded and started concentrating, tongue sticking out as he began cutting away the raven hair.

"Don't forget there, and there, oh, and there!" Luffy added, trying to be helpful as he pointed out every spot he felt Sabo needed to cut at. Ace sat patiently, the minutes ticking by quickly, and before he knew it Sabo was finished, his head already feeling lighter.

"Good thing we've done this before." Ace said, running his fingers through his hair a few times to get rid of any extra pieces that hadn't fallen. Sabo grinned, nodding, remembering the times they had cut each others hair back in the forest, before the facility.

"Alright Luffy, your turn," Sabo said, the boy falling happily into the seat, his smile never leaving as he kicked his feet. Sabo began the process of untangling the hair as much as he could, scolding Luffy for moving too much already while Ace began telling Luffy stories in an attempt to settle the boy down. When Sabo began cutting the hair away, Luffy informing him how short he wanted it, he was relieved that the teen seemed to understand that he needed to sit still now if he wanted his hair to turn out alright.

With Ace and Luffy's hair now cut it was Sabo's turn, the blonde handing the scissors over to Ace, none of them trusting Luffy to be able to do it. His brother was meticulous when it came to cutting hair, making sure every strand was untangled and smooth before cutting away what was necessary. When finished Sabo did the same thing Ace and Luffy had done, running his fingers through his hair, trying to get used to the feeling of his hair ending sooner than expected.

"Now we gotta clean this mess up and get these scissors back before anyone notices they're gone." Ace said, using said scissors to point at the clumps of hair on the ground. Sabo nodded his agreement, the two eldest sweeping the hair into their hands and putting it in the trash in the corner of their room, Sabo taking the scissors back to the bathroom quickly, using his hearing to get there and back unnoticed.

When Sabo returned he could already hear footsteps turning down the hallway they were in.

"Marcos coming. It's probably lunch time." Sabo said to Ace and Luffy, the two sitting on the bed. Sabo stayed at the door, ready to open it when Marco knocked while Ace and Luffy got up as well, ready to get the meal over with. It was getting a little easier to go to the galley, though they still didn't like it at all.

When the knock sounded Sabo greeted the commander who merely raised an eyebrow at the brothers' now shorter hair, and then they were on their way to the galley, Luffy in between his brothers per usual while they all stayed on guard, ready for anything as they made the short trip through the halls.

Luffy had been spending most of their time in the galley taking in as many feelings as he could, searching for even one person with the darkness in them, but he had yet to find anyone with it. The crew was huge and Luffy knew that there had to be at least one person with the darkness in them. He stayed close to his brothers and when they reached the galley he let the emotions pour into him.

He was filled with multiple emotions at once, from joy and happiness to exhaustion and annoyance. He sifted through the many emotions, looking for any malice or darkness as he made his way to the table with his brothers, Thatch placing plates in front of them. He ate almost on autopilot, letting his brothers do any talking that was needed as he kept his eyes glued to the food in front of him.

Joy, happy, satisfied, hungry, tired, bored, annoyed, irritated.

The list went on and Luffy blocked the many emotions from entering him, not wanting to tip the pirates off to anything weird if he started laughing from letting too much happiness influence him, or screaming because he let too much annoyance get to him. His brothers kept a close eye on him, sending warm feelings his way in an attempt to balance out the many different emotions they knew Luffy was experiencing, trying to keep him grounded.

That was when Luffy realized he was feeling the warm feeling from others around them who weren't Ace and Sabo.

He hadn't expected to feel the feeling from anyone else besides his brothers, after all, the doctors had never experienced that emotion. He didn't know others could feel it. He still didn't quite know the name of it, but the closest he had gotten to describing it had been love or home. Both seemed to fit, but they didn't fully explain the feeling so Luffy never thought a better name other than warm.

Almost every pirate in the room was emitting this warm feeling, even if it was only a little bit, but there was someone emitting a high amount of it, more then Luffy had ever felt coming from one person before.

He tried pinpointing where the person emitting the feeling was, trying to filter out all the other emotions in the room in search of the person. He had paused in his eating, his brothers noticing immediately and focusing their attention more on him, but not making it obvious to the talkative commanders sitting with them.

'Darkness?' Ace tapped out on Luffy's leg, ready to bolt if Luffy answered affirmatively. Luffy shook his head minutely, still focusing on dimming the feelings of everyone else. The commanders seemed to take notice of Luffys pause as well, turning their attention on the boy who was staring mutely at his food, fork raised halfway from his plate to his mouth.

"You ok Luffy?" Thatch asked gently, concerned. Luffy suppressed the feeling he could feel coming from the chef, no matter how strong it was. He was close to figuring out where the warm feeling was. Ace and Sabo were now openly looking at their brother as well, wondering what was happening.

Luffy raised his head from his plate, glancing around the galley as he got closer to figuring it out. It wasn't coming from the right, or from behind him. Not in front of him, so that leaves the left.

"What's the matter?" Namur asked, all commanders now all having stopped eating in favor of focusing on Luffy. Whitebeard was watching with interest as well.

The warm feeling was being paired with a feeling of concern but Luffy ignored that as well, noticing that whoever this was coming from was close to him and his brothers. Luffys eyes scanned the area again, his brothers doing the same in hopes of seeing whatever Luffy was searching for. The commanders instinctively did the same, thinking there might be a threat or at least something that was unsettling the youngest of the trio.

There it was.

Luffys eyes snapped to the Captain, Whitebeard, and his mouth opened slightly in almost awe. Everyone at the table was looking at him again, the rest of the pirates in the galley oblivious to what was happening. Ace and Sabo, now noticing their brothers target, stiffened slightly, not sure what Luffy was detecting from the giant. No one knew why the boy was staring so wide-eyed at the Captain, not even Whitebeard himself.

Luffy couldn't bring himself to look away from Whitebeard, relishing in just how much warmth was coming from the man, the feeling filling Luffy quickly, pushing away any other feelings he might have been feeling at that moment. The warmth made the youngest feel at peace, like nothing bad could happen as long as this warmth never went away.

Any tenseness in Luffy faded away, the boy practically slumping to the floor if not for Ace catching him from falling backward off the bench. Everyone was concerned for him, and Rakuyo was about ready to call for a nurse while Ace and Sabo tried grabbing Luffy's attention, not knowing what was happening.

Luffy suddenly felt sleepy, at complete peace. Nothing bad could happen. Not when there was a warmth blanketing him, lulling him to relax. His eyelids drooped closed slowly, but he forced them to reopen. He could hear mumbles around him but they were fuzzy, like when he was underwater. He tried listening to what they were saying, but that warm feeling was so nice, he didn't want to let it go. He could feel himself slipping into darkness, and he let it happen, embracing it.

A part of him was objecting to doing this though, telling him that he was worrying his brothers, and it was enough to stop him from slipping completely. He opened his eyes again, trying his best to focus on his surroundings no matter how tired and relaxed he felt. He tried sitting up, noticing he was leaning into something. His senses were slowly coming back to him as he resisted the warmth, allowing him to become more aware.

"-nurse."

"He's fine... -no nurse." Luffy knew that voice, it was his brother, Ace, and Luffy could hear the tiny amount of fear hidden in his voice. Why was Ace scared? Was it because of him? Things began getting clearer, his vision sharpening, his ears picking up on noises again, his sense of smell returning.

"Luffy?" Sabo's voice was soft in his ear. He turned to look at his brother, letting the warm feeling leave him slowly, though a part of him still wanted to pull it back in, to let it envelop him again.

"Are you ok?" Luffy noticed that the galley had fallen silent and now everyone was watching him, concern floating like a cloud in the air. Luffy closed his mouth, which had been open the entire time, and nodded, the feeling of exhaustion not having left him.

"Mm..." Luffy hummed out quietly, sitting up on his own, realizing Ace had been supporting him.

"M'fine..." Luffy mumbled out, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened? You gave us all a scare there!" Luffy looked up at the voice, recognizing the man as Fossa. The boy shrunk in on himself, all the attention suddenly catching up to him as he realizes how many people were looking at him.

"I dunno... tired," Luffy mumbled softly, the commanders and Captain just barely picking up on it. Before anyone else could say anything Sabo and Ace stood, Luffy realizing he had missed whatever they had tapped to each other.

"We're gonna take him back to our room. Sorry for the scare." Sabo said politely, bowing slightly with a strained smile on his lips as Ace pulled him off the bench. It was then that they both realized Luffy couldn't stand on his own, his legs feeling like jelly. Ace wrapped an arm around Luffys middle, Sabo doing the same on Luffys other side, and the two supported the boy as they made their way back to the room as quick as they could, the attention making their skin crawl and motivate them to move faster.

If those stupid nurses hadn't ordered them to not do anything strenuous Ace would have lifted his brother onto his back and ran to the room, but they just barely got away with getting the commanders to hold out on calling a nurse for Luffy, he wasn't going to push it. He also had to play the hurt kid as well, so the pirates didn't know that he was fully healed, wanting to keep that little-known fact to himself.

Sabo had the same thoughts as they raced back to the room, practically dragging Luffy along in between them. He was worried that the pirates would be upset with their sudden departure as well as their refusal for a nurse. They didn't need the pirates turning on them after whatever had just happened to Luffy.

When they were in the relative safety of their room Ace and Sabo guided Luffy to the bed, laying him down gently.

"What happened back there Lu?" Sabo asked gently, still worried about his baby brother. Luffys eyebrows knitted together as he thought about it.

"I... don't know... I was looking for the darkness," Luffy shuttered at the mention of the bad feeling.

"And then I felt a lot of the warmth coming from someone." Luffy continued, still a little disoriented.

"It was a lot of warmth, more then Ace or Sabo have ever made, and I tried figuring out where the mystery person was," Luffy said, trying to remember exactly what happened, the memories a bit fuzzy after the emotional overload.

"The Captain?" Sabo questioned, remembering how Luffy had seemed to focus on the man. He and Ace were listening intently, knowing Luffy hadn't felt the warm feeling from anyone but his brothers before.

"Yeah! It was big mustache man! And then the warmth just kept coming and coming and it felt really nice, so I let it, but then I felt sleepy and relaxed, and safe, and I wanted to sleep." Luffy said, nodding rapidly. Ace and Sabo frowned, glancing at each other. They knew that emotions from others could influence Luffy, but they never affected his functioning before. Normally they just influenced what he felt at that moment, but if this warm feeling could incapacitate their brother they had to be careful with just how much they sent him.

"Luffy, you have to be careful next time. If the warm feeling can make you do that it wouldn't be good, especially not now when we're on this ship." Ace said sternly, worried for his brothers' safety. Luffy nodded in understanding.

"Mm! I won't let it happen next time, even if it is a nice feeling!" Luffy said in determination, making Ace and Sabo smile, Ace moving to ruffle his brother's hair.

"Why don't you take a nap Luffy, you still look exhausted," Sabo said, moving the blankets from underneath Luffy and tucking him in. The youngest nodded and curled into the blankets, eyes closing as he smiled.

"Wake me up for dinner!" Luffy said cheerily as if everything that happened in the galley hadn't really happened. Ace and Sabo sat in silence for a few minutes until Luffys breathing evened out, signaling he was asleep.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"That was... odd," Jozu muttered, watching the retreating brothers' backs as they stumbled off. The commanders nodded in agreement.

"What the heck was that?" Thatch asked, concerned for the youngest.

"We should tell Whiskey about this, maybe somethings wrong. Didn't she say that there could be something bad in Luffy's blood?" Haruta asked, worry on his face.

"Yeah, but Ace and Sabo seemed pretty adamant about no nurses," Namur added, some nodding their agreement, remembering the vehement rejections the older two gave when they mentioned getting Whiskey.

"They're terrified of nurses though, even if one of them was terminally ill I don't think they would want a nurse checking up on them," Izo said, moving a loose strand of hair from his face.

"Either way, I'll tell Whiskey after lunch, yoi. Even if it was nothing serious were better safe than sorry." Marco said stoically.

"And what was with the look he gave Pops?" Atmos asked, everyone, remembering the look on Luffys face as he had gazed over at Whitebeard, mouth falling open and eyes widening slightly before they had glazed over.

"He looked like he was looking for something before focusing on Oyaji," Blenheim said, remembering the way the kid had glanced around before focusing on the giant.

"Whatever it was, it was interesting." Whitebeard rumbled, hand on his chin in thought. When the boy had looked at him it didn't feel like he had been looking at him, rather he had been looking at something deeper.

Whitebeard could feel his interest in the boys piquing, his curiosity growing. These boys were a puzzle, one that he was interested in solving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> So, we saw a little more about how Luffy experiences others emotions! Its a bit hard to explain, but I imagine it as if Luffy is feeling another person's emotions as if they're his own. It's like a cloud around him of other peoples emotions, and if those are strong emotions, then it begins to crowd around Luffy more and more until he himself feels that emotion like it was his own.
> 
> It's confusing, I know, but Luffys a confusing person.
> 
> Anyways, this warmth is the complete opposite of the darkness so instead of making Luffy feel scared, or like he's suffocating, it makes him feel safe and warm, hence calling it warmth. As you saw, too much of it puts Luffy at so much ease that he'll just pass out. Like any other emotion, it influenced him and he experienced the raw feeling of warmth which relaxed him so much he nearly passed out but resisted it.
> 
> I just wanted to share that with you guys in case you were curious about how Luffy experiences things involving others' emotions.


	24. Heated Arguments and Lost Luffys

It was now Thursday. Shanks was scheduled to arrive at the Moby on Monday.

Time was passing too damn slow.

The brothers were in their room per usual, but there was nothing to do in said room. It was empty, bare, with nothing to entertain themselves with. Ace was pacing around in boredom and pent-up frustration, trying to muffle it in case Luffy started getting influenced by it. Sabo was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling in boredom, no distinct emotion coming from him as he stared, making shapes in the wood grain. Luffy was beside Sabo, laying on his side and staring at the wall across the room. He wanted to do something, but there was nothing.

They had spent seven years in a cell, and even that was more entertaining than this room. At least they had been occupied with... other things.

Luffy had recovered after the event at lunch yesterday, and when dinner had come they were sent a lot of questioning looks, but no one asked anything which they were grateful for.

Suddenly Luffy sat upright, nose twitching, already slightly burning at the scent coming their way. Ace and Sabo noticed this and Sabo focused on the sounds coming from outside their room, noticing a familiar pair of determined footsteps heading their way. He stiffened, hoping that the footsteps would turn away from them, that they weren't actually coming their way, but he was proven wrong as they turned to walk down the hallway their room was in.

"What? What's happening? Whos coming?" Ace asked, oblivious to who was on their way.

"Whiskey," Sabo said softly, sitting up and scrambling off of the bed, Luffy moving more to the corner, trying to get as far away from the door as possible. Ace tensed as well at the nurses' name, clenching his jaw as he spun to face the door, fists clenched.

"They told her about yesterday." Ace practically growled out, glaring at the wooden door that separated him from their worst nightmare. Sabo nodded, agreeing with Ace.

"Most likely," Sabo said tensely, biting the inside of his cheek in an attempt to stay calm and grounded. He didn't want to feel too many negative emotions, careful of influencing Luffy.

A knock on the door had all of them tensing even more, Sabo swallowing hard and taking a deep breath as he raised a shaky hand to the knob, preparing himself. When he pulled the door open he was met with a blank-faced Whiskey, giving him no indication as to how the nurse was feeling. She offered the blonde a smile after a second though, waving a little.

"Hello there, I know you guys would rather I not be here but I heard about what happened to Luffy and I wanted to make sure he was ok." Whiskey said, trying to peek into the room, but Sabo was effectively blocking her view of anything but himself.

"We appreciate that, but he's fine, really, he was just tired." Sabo tried explaining it to the nurse as calmly as he could, trying to keep the strain from his voice. Whiskey wasn't convinced though and frowned a little, putting Sabo even more on edge, remembering Haru and how he would smile pleasantly at first until he was denied something. He would frown and then inflict punishment on whoever had denied him of his intentions.

"I just want to do a small check-up. Seeing as I don't have any of his blood we can't be sure that whatever happened yesterday wasn't because of a drug still in his system." Whiskey said, practically standing on her tiptoes in an attempt at even catching a glance of Luffy.

The brothers knew that what happened yesterday hadn't been because of a drug, but they couldn't exactly explain that to the nurse without giving away too much information about themselves and the facility itself, so Sabo was stuck in a predicament. He didn't want to make the nurse mad, but every time he denied her from coming into the room she seemed to get more and more annoyed with them, and that wouldn't be good if she suddenly turned on them and told the pirates.

On the other hand, he couldn't just let her in to examine Luffy, she would probably try to take his blood or do tests, or even worse, send him back to the infirmary. They definitely couldn't be sent back there, that was for sure.

But that left Sabo stuck in a jam, caught inbetween wanting to play the nice patient, but also keeping himself and his brothers safe.

"After the checkup, I'll leave, as long as this really was nothing." Whiskey insisted, and Sabo bit his lip, glancing into the room quickly. Ace was sending glares to the nurse, though she couldn't see them, and Luffy was curled in on himself so much that he looked like a child again. Sabo really didn't want to let the nurse in, but it was their best option.

Turning back to face Whiskey he nodded, although very hesitantly, forcing a smile to grace his lips.

"Alright," Sabo said simply, slowly stepping away from the door and letting the nurse in. Ace did his best to remove the glare from his face, knowing he had to play nice too, and instead opted to go comfort Luffy who was forcing himself to at least move closer to the nurse, no matter how uncomfortable he was with it. Whiskey stepped into the room, glancing questioningly at the beds that had been moved together, wondering how they had gotten there.

"Did you three move the bed closer?" She asked, genuine confusion in her voice. Sabo, remembering Whiskey telling them not to strain themselves, spoke quickly before Luffy or Ace could say anything, though he was pretty sure they were too focused on keeping their composure to answer.

"No, they were already like this." Sabo managed weakly, knowing it was a horrible lie. Marco had seen the room before when the beds had been apart, and for all Sabo knew none of the rooms on this ship had two beds pushed together like this, but unless Whiskey expected them to have somehow managed to get their hands on tools to remove the bolts in the ground she would have to believe Sabo.

She nodded at Sabo's poor excuse, still looking slightly confused, but she shrugged it off quickly, moving closer to Luffy who was now sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for the nurse to come over and do her checkup. Ace sat beside him, rubbing his back soothingly in an attempt to calm the youngest down, he and Sabo both sending Luffy warm feelings, but making sure to not send too much as to not have a repeat of what got them into this mess in the first place.

"Well, in any case, as I said before, I'm just gonna do a quick check up to make sure everything's ok." Whiskey explained before getting to work, trying to move as fast as she could so she could be done quickly, not wanting to make the brothers anymore uncomfortable then they already were. By the time she finished she found nothing wrong, finding herself agreeing with the brothers that Luffy had probably just been tired and after a good nights rest he was better.

"Everything looks good. Thank you for letting me do the checkup." Whiskey said as she stood back up, some of the brothers' tension easing away, though not completely. Whiskey was sure they wouldn't fully relax until she was out of the room.

"No problem, thank you for your concern," Sabo said in the same polite tone he always used as he walked with Whiskey to the door, Ace wrapping an arm around Luffys shoulder and pulling him close, whispering something to him, probably something to comfort him.

"Marco told me that breakfast would be ready soon, you could probably head there now though, there won't be that many people there and I'm sure Thatch would be more than happy to give you a plate early." Whiskey said, having heard how uncomfortable the brothers got when it came to crowds and attention.

"Thank you Whiskey, we'll head there now," Sabo said, wanting the nurse out of the room so he could make sure Luffy was ok. With a quick goodbye Whiskey finally left the room, Sabo closing the door with a sigh of relief as he quickly returned to his little brothers' side, glancing at Ace with worried eyes.

"Hey Lu, you ok?" Sabo asked softly, not wanting to startle the youngest. Luffy nodded mutely, a small frown on his face as he stared at his hands. It wasn't that the nurse had done anything wrong, Luffy could feel her feelings, could feel that she was worried that she would make the brothers uncomfortable, could feel that she really did just want to help, but just her presence, her smell, set Luffy on edge, reminding him of Haru and the other doctors, and the facility itself.

Neither brother had the heart to say anything else on the matter, both deciding to silently support the youngest through what they knew were painful memories. After a few minutes of silence, Luffy forced himself out of the memories, remembering the nurse mentioning food, which reminded him how hungry he was.

"Can we go get breakfast?" Luffy asked softly, not wanting to talk any louder. Ace and Sabo shared a look before they nodded, standing.

"If we're lucky there won't be too many people there like Whiskey said." Ace said with a small smile. Luffy smiled at the thought, standing as well and following his brothers out into the hall.

"I think she was right, I don't hear too many people in there yet," Sabo mentioned, focusing on the sounds in the galley, blocking out those out on deck or in the kitchen. This lightened the mood between the brothers, happy they wouldn't have to deal with too many people right after the events of both this morning and yesterday.

When they entered the galley it was practically barren compared to how it normally was, only a handful of tables actually containing people. The commanders' table that they normally sat at only had a few people as well, Izo, Jozu, Fossa, and Haruta. The brothers, not quite sure what to do, walked quickly to the table, sitting in their usual spots on the bench.

"Good morning boys, sleep well?" Izo asked politely, smiling to the three. Sabo smiled back, already used to taking the role of talking to the pirates, Ace and Luffy remaining silent beside him.

"Yes, thank you. You?" Sabo replied courteously, his smile never faltering. Izo shrugged noncommittally, sighing slightly.

"Oh you know, as well as you can when you've got these barbarians running around yelling all night." Izo huffed, frowning a little and gesturing to the near-empty galley. Jozu laughed beside him.

"By now it shouldn't faze you Izo, after all, when have the Whitebeard Pirates ever been quiet when there are drinks to be had?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Izo glared at him, pulling out his fan and covering his face.

"Well, I need my beauty sleep! Couldn't you idiots celebrate in a quieter fashion?" Izo grumbled out, this time making Fossa and Haruta laugh as well.

"What were you guys celebrating?" Sabo asked, genuinely curious. The commanders turned to look at him as if forgetting the brothers had been sitting there the entire time.

"Oh, well one of the groups that had been sent to deal with an issue came back successful. We would have invited you three to join but after what happened we assumed you wanted to be left alone." Haruta said with a slightly guilty look as if he expected the brothers to be upset with him for not inviting them. Sabo held back his confusion and shook his head.

"No, its fine, we turned in early last night," Sabo said, ready to drop the subject. Luffy was taking the time to more clearly determine the commanders' emotions seeing as there were only a few people in the room to interfere with the emotions and make them hard to read. He could only find good feelings in them, and although lady-not-lady was still a little annoyed, it wasn't much.

"That's good, we were worried about you, after all, little one." Fossa said, more to Luffy who spun to look at the man, quickly taking check of his feelings and determining there was nothing bad in them. Because of this Luffy offered the man a small smile, which was enough to tell his brothers that everything was ok so far, allowing Sabo to continue the pleasantries while keeping Ace from glaring suspiciously at the commander.

"He was just tired was all. After he slept he was good as new." Sabo said, ruffling Luffy's hair affectionately, causing Luffy's smile to widen. The commanders smiled as well.

"Thatch should be ready with your food, Ha- ah, Ruta, why don't you go check?" Jozu asked, nearly slipping up with the name but correcting himself before he could. The brothers were grateful for it, relief filling them, and Sabo was glad they were accommodating enough to use the nickname around them. He was nowhere near comfortable with the pirates, and neither were Ace or Luffy, but he was put at ease slightly when they did small things like that to make the brothers comfortable, even if it turned out that it was all under false attempts at making them happy.

"Sure, be right back," Haruta said, smiling as he left the table to go check on the food. Sabo sighed internally. They hadn't even gotten food yet and he was being forced to have pleasant conversation with the commanders. The one bad thing about the lack of people in the galley was there was a lack of distraction for the COmmanders, leaving all their attention focused on the brothers, or more accurately Sabo seeing as he was the one who was actually talking.

Ace and Luffy were doing their best to stay calm and occupied, while also on guard the entire time. With Sabo being the one to talk he was focused on the conversation rather than his surroundings, leaving it up to Ace and Luffy to make sure no threat approached them. Ace was scanning the room covertly, his sharp vision making it easier to detect any and every movement that was made, from a pirate shuffling in their seat to a fly stuck in the spiderweb in the corner.

Luffy was focusing on everyone's feelings, making sure no one had the dark feeling because if there was one thing Luffy knew, it was that someone's emotions could change within a second. If he felt any sort of malice directed towards them he would be the one to let his brothers know.

Not only did Ace and Luffy use their abilities, but they also used their haki, using it to figure out the strength of those surrounding them, as well as how many there were in the room, and how many were outside the door in case they had to make an escape.

These two were on complete guard, leaving the hardest part to Sabo. The talking. If Sabo made one slip up, everything could take a turn for the worse. These friendly pirates could turn around and become bloodthirsty killers if Sabo didn't watch his words carefully. He used his hearing to listen to the pirates' breathing and his natural born skill of detecting moods and reactions to figure out what to say next.

"How have you three been feeling? Better?" Jozu asked, which Sabo nodded to.

"Yes, your nurses here are very good at their job." Sabo complimented easily, though his fists were clenched under the table at the thought that he just complimented nurses. He knew, logically, that not all nurses were bad, that they ran into some sick doctors and not everyone was like them, but that didn't make it any easier on the blonde.

"Pops made sure of it when he asked them to join!" Fossa boasted, raising his drink to his lips as he grinned.

"By the way, did you guys cut your hair?" Izo asked with a raised eyebrow, having noticed it when they had first done it, but not mentioning it till now. Sabo nodded, running his fingers through the much shorter hair on instinct.

"We did, after all, it was getting to be unmanageable. This is much easier to handle." Sabo said, wondering how the man would react. He didn't think he would have a problem, after all, they only cut their hair, but what if, for some reason, that set the pirate off and made him turn on them?

Sabo knew these thoughts were irrational, just as he knew not all doctors or nurses were horrible people, but, again, old habits die hard when you were practically raised in a facility where cruelty and punishment were thrown at you for little to no reason at all on most occasions.

"It looks good. Have you had practice cutting hair before?" Fossa asked, taking notice of the brothers' much shorter hair. Sabo nodded again, wondering how much to give away.

"I used to cut these two's hair when we were younger and Ace would cut mine. It was just something we learned how to do over time with practice." Sabo said nonchalantly, shrugging. The commanders nodded in understanding and Sabo sighed internally, already wanting to crawl back to their room, regardless of the fact that they hadn't even eaten yet.

As if on cue Thatch and Haruta emerged from the kitchen, plates in hands as they made their way over to the table with smiles.

"Sorry for the wait, I was a little held up back there!" Thatch said, grinning happily as he set the plates in front of the trio, the brothers immediately digging in, wanting to leave as soon as possible, preferably before everyone started showing up.

"Were fine with waiting, its no big deal," Sabo said in between bites, completely lying through his teeth, not that he would let the pirates know that. Thatch merely smiled in response, sitting in his spot at the table along with Haruta.

"So, you guys gonna come on outta your room today? You've been in there the past few days now!" Thatch said good-naturedly, though the three tensed at the words. Sabo had been hoping Thatch would have forgotten about his apparent want for the brothers to mingle with the pirates, but that was clearly not the case. The blonde cleared his throat, sharing a quick glance with Ace in slight panic. He didn't want to make the pirate mad but he also didn't want to agree with coming out of their room anytime soon, not until Shanks was here, and then maybe not even then.

"I don't know, after yesterday Luffy's been a little tired," Sabo said apologetically, feigning a look of guilt. Thatch pouted a little but smiled quickly after.

"It's no big deal, but you really should try to later! Its supposed to be really nice out for the next few days, especially in Grand Line standards!" Thatch encouraged happily, and Sabo smiled, the expression getting harder and harder to fake as the conversation continued.

"That sounds great." The words were hard to force out and he hid the strain in his voice as he took another bite of food, noticing that Ace was looking his way rather than at the pirates around them. The oldest had picked up Sabo's growing unease and he unconsciously began to eat faster. Luffy picked up on this, as well as the feelings coming from Sabo, and did the same as Ace, shoveling food in a little faster than before in an attempt to finish quicker.

The brothers hadn't needed to use their silent language between each other when eating, all of their communication happening through glances or looks, but Ace was getting closer and closer to using the signal for 'abort mission now.' He knew the blonde could only keep this act up of friendly politeness for so long, and that time limit was closing in.

After Sabo's comment Thatch beamed and the brothers busied themselves with eating as quickly as possible, finishing within record time since they had been there.

"The food was delicious Mr. Commander, thank you," Sabo said, his strained smile still plastered onto his face as he stacked his plate on top of Ace and Luffy's, handing them to Thatch as the three stood up from the table, ready to leave.

"It was no problem! Hope to see you outside soon!" Thatch said as the three began walking away. Sabo hesitated, smile faltering for a split second before it returned.

"Right," Sabo said with false cheeriness, nodding to the chef as he ran after his brothers.

"I didn't think that chef would ever shut up!" Ace growled, annoyed. The trio made their way back to their room quickly with practiced ease, avoiding spots where they knew people were so they didn't have to deal with anyone. Sabo nodded his agreement.

"I didn't think he would be so adamant about seeing us outside of our room," Sabo muttered, also a little annoyed. Thatch probably meant well, or maybe he didn't, Sabo couldn't know for sure, but what he did know was that he and his brothers didn't want to be bothered by anyone until Shanks arrived, even if that meant staying in their room with nothing to entertain themselves with.

"He was disappointed when you said we would stay in our room." Luffy piped in, having been focusing on the commanders' emotions the entire time. Sabo frowned while Ace glared harshly at the end of the hallway they had just turned into.

"Probably because he couldn't get us out in the open where they could attack us." Ace spat out, not trusting any of the pirates for a second. Sabo sighed but didn't disagree with his brother. Sure, the pirates were being nice now, but no one was this nice to strangers without having ulterior motives. The brothers had learned that the hard way, especially when they interacted with Haru more and more.

"Did anyone have the bad feelings?" Sabo asked Luffy, knowing the youngest had been cataloging everyone's emotions the entire time for the feeling. Even though he knew Luffy would tell them the second he noticed a bad feeling he still couldn't get over the fact that no one had the feeling yet. These were pirates, and Sabo wasn't going to allow himself to be naive enough to believe that no one here had any ill will towards the brothers.

"No, some of them were annoyed, but not at us, at the other guys," Luffy said softly. His abilities allowed him to feel where someone's emotions were being directed, like anger directed at the person someone was talking to or happiness directed toward food someone was eating. Sabo and Ace took in the information, wondering just when things would turn bad. It was too calm, too peaceful, too... safe.

It was like an oxymoron, for the brothers to be safe on a pirate ship, and that was why Sabo and Ace weren't going to let their guard down.

"I wish they would just turn on us already." Ace said in frustration as they entered their room. It was unnerving and exhausting for the brothers to constantly be on their toes, to constantly watch everything they said so they didn't upset anyone. Ace just wished the pirates would attack already so they could get out of here.

"Don't wish for things that you don't truly want Ace. If they do turn on us we'd still have to figure out how to get to an island without anything to guide us there." Sabo said pointedly, causing Ace to pout and cross his arms as he made his way to the bed. Luffy decided to go to the desk and start making patterns out of the wood, tracing the surface with his fingers as he listened to Ace and Sabo.

"Who says I don't want that? At least we won't have to double check every step we take around those pirates!" Ace spat out, the pent-up anger and frustration beginning to show its ugly head. All the stress that was being put on the three didn't help either.

"I _know_ you don't want that because it would be worse than now! We wouldn't have any food or fresh water, and what happens when the weather starts changing and we're stuck in a tiny lifeboat, huh?!" Sabo almost shouted back, voice rising as anger began taking hold of him too. Luffy lifted his head from the desk, turning to look at his brothers with wide eyes, looking at their waves that were virtually vibrating with their anger. He knew he should stop his brothers from arguing, because they were brothers and they were on a scary ship with scary people and if they got angry with each other it wouldn't be good for them, but when he opened his mouth to talk nothing came out.

"How do you know what I want?! Did they give you special mind-reading powers in the facility too?!" Ace shouted, voice rising to an equal volume as Sabo's as he stood up from the bed, glaring at the blonde.

Luffy could feel the anger and frustration coming off his brothers, making his chest tighten and his blood seemingly start to move faster, his breathing becoming heavier.

"Don't be an idiot Ace, of course I didn't get mind reading powers, but if you would stop to think for once you'd see what a bad idea it is _wanting_ the pirates to fight us is!" Sabo countered, the shouting match between the two becoming more and more heated. Suddenly Luffy could feel the red-hot anger in him as if it were his own, his lips thinning and his fists clenching.

"Oh, so now I don't think either, huh?! Why do I bother living if you seem to know me better then I know myself?!" Ace questioned, practically butting heads with Sabo at this point.

"Don't you even go there!" Sabo growled out harshly, voice lowering dangerously.

"Oh, you mean question why I'm even alive to begin with? Why not, I should have never been born-"

" _ENOUGH!_ Both of you, _SHUT UP!_ " Luffy screamed, voice louder and angrier than the brothers had ever heard it before. Ace and Sabo immediately stopped their arguing, eyes going wide as they realized what they had been doing.

"Why can't you two just _GET ALONG?!_ I'm sick of it!" Luffy continued, voice only marginally lower than it had been the first time. It didn't take long for Ace and Sabo to realize that they had just been feeding Luffy their anger and frustration, influencing the youngest to feel just as, if not more, angry than both the brothers had been combined only moments ago.

"Luffy-" Luffy didn't even let Ace start to say anything as he turned on him, glaring.

"Why can't you just be happy to be alive like Sabo and I are?! We love you and without you, I would be really really _really_ sad!" Luffy shouted.

"Luffy, we-" Again, Luffy didn't let Sabo speak.

"And you! I know you want us to be safe and happy, but fighting with Ace and ignoring how he feels doesn't help us! It only makes things worse! Stop ignoring each other and just _LISTEN!_ " Luffy finished, turning on his heels and nearly stomping out of the room, flinging the door open and slamming it shut behind him, leaving his brothers to stare after him in stunned silence.

Luffy didn't really know where he was going, all he knew was that he was too angry to care and that, as long as he was away from his brothers, he would be fine. He marched down the hall where their room was and took random twists and turns throughout the inside of the Moby Dick, walking without any care for where he ended up. The longer he walked the more he calmed down, his fists slowly unclenching, glare falling into his natural expression, stomping becoming soft steps once more.

It was only then that he realized his mistake in leaving the room.

He didn't have a clue where he was, but he was near a lot of pirates judging on the smells. He was still in the maze of hallways and he couldn't remember how many turns he had taken in his haze of anger, or whether or not he had passed any pirates on his way here. Surely he had to have passed at least a few, he could smell them behind him, and this only caused fear to start rising in Luffy.

He couldn't go anywhere now without running into a pirate. He was alone, lost, and scared, a combination that Luffy definitely did not like, and even though he could just follow Ace and Sabo's waves he would still have to pass at least one pirate on his way back to them.

Suddenly he could hear talking behind him and turned with wide, panicked eyes to see two people rounding the corner. Luffy didn't even have a chance to try to hide by the time they spotted him, both giving him slightly confused looks. If Luffy wasn't on the verge of hyperventilating he would have tried to gauge their emotions, look for the darkness, but as it was now Luffy was barely able to keep it together enough to keep his breathing under control.

"Luffy? You ok?" Thatch was the one to speak first, he and Marco having been talking before they had spotted the youngest of the trio alone in the hallway.

"Are you lost, yoi?" Marco asked, noticing the panicked look in Luffys eyes, like a deer in the headlights. Luffys mind was racing just as fast as his heart as he tried figuring out what to respond with. He knew these two were good souls, and they kept their promises, but Luffy's mind was clouded with fear and uncertainty, any reason he had flying out the window. It took everything within Luffy to just nod, still too petrified to move any more than that. Thatch and Marcos expressions softened at the nod as they realized the situation.

"Hey, its ok, why don't we get you back to your brothers, yeah? I know I said I'd like to see you out of your room more, but I didn't mean for you to get so scared while doing it." Thatch said good-naturedly, giving Luffy a small smile in an attempt to calm the boy down. Luffy could only nod again in response.

"Why don't we go check your room, yoi? If they aren't in there we can go to the galley if you like and have a snack until someone finds them." Marco suggested. Again, Luffy nodded, beginning to calm down slightly, enough for the tenseness to leave his body and for him to get his breathing fully under control.

"Alright! Well, come on, your rooms this way!" Thatch said cheerily, turning to face the way Luffy had come from. Luffy hesitated for only a second before he walked behind Thatch and Marco. He didn't want to get too close to the pirates, but he didn't want to get too far back either. Thatch tried making small talk with Luffy, but when he noticed the boy wasn't going to talk back he opted for making jokes instead, keeping a conversation going with himself to fill the air with something other than silence.

"And then this other guy walked into the bar and said, _'Ow, who put that there?!'_ " Thatch said, lowering his voice to imitate the guy in his joke. Luffy couldn't help but smile a little at the joke, finding it funny.

"Oh, and there was this one joke I heard on the last island we landed on before yours! How do all the oceans say hello to each other?" Thatch asked, pausing for effect, but also to see if Luffy would answer him. He glanced at the boy expectantly, grinning widely and raising his eyebrows in anticipation. Luffy had a smile of his own, both from the jokes and because he could feel Thatch's happiness and joy beginning to fill him as well.

"They wave!" Thatch said, delivering the punch line with an exaggerated wave of his own.

"Get it, because there are waves in the ocean, and you wave to say hello?" Thatch explained happily. Luffy saw Marco roll his eyes at the explanation, but the man was smiling a little none the less and he could feel Marcos own happiness radiating inside him. Luffy hadn't even noticed that he was completely relaxed with these two, even though they were pirates. He wouldn't go as far as to say he trusted them completely, but Luffy could feel that these two were good people, that they wouldn't hurt Luffy or his brothers like the doctors at the facility had.

"And there was also this one joke-"

"Luffy!" Whatever joke Thatch had been about to say was cut off when they heard Luffy's name being called, all three turning to see what was happening. Luffy's eyes widened as he realized he'd been so caught up in Thatch's jokes that he hadn't even realized that they weren't even following Ace and Sabo's waves anymore.

Behind him, Ace and Sabo were running toward him, relief washing over their faces. A quick check told Luffy that the two had been feeling panicked before, but after seeing him they had been filled with happiness and relief. Sabo was quick to pull Luffy into a hug, and Ace would have as well, but he noticed they were with company so he opted to stand guard, moving to place Sabo and Luffy behind him while he glared at the two.

"Oh, hey, we've been looking for you two! We were just headed to your room to see if you were there but it seems you've found us!" Thatch said happily, either not noticing or completely ignoring Aces glare as he laughed without a care. Ace looked ready to snap something at the chef but Sabo stopped him, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder and smiling gratefully to the pirates, this time not faking it.

"Thank you for finding Luffy for us, we were worried," Sabo admitted, gazing softly at Luffy and ruffling his hair, causing Luffy to laugh and swipe at Sabo's hands.

"It was no problem, he told us he got lost so we were just helping out. Moby's pretty big, I'm not surprised he couldn't find you two, yoi." Marco said, waving it off as no big deal.

"Either way, we're grateful, right Ace?" Sabo practically hissed the words at Ace, elbowing the fire user in the side, causing Ace to glare at him, but nod.

"Yeah, thanks," Ace muttered, moving to look at Luffy.

"You ok?" He asked, quickly scanning his baby brother for any injuries that hadn't been there when he had left. If there was even one hair out of place Ace wouldn't hesitate in fighting these two pirates right then and there. Luffy beamed at Ace though, nodding.

"Mm! Mr. Chef told me lots of jokes, and even though I didn't know where I was or where you guys were I didn't cry at all!" Luffy said, beaming proudly to Ace who looked at Luffy a little longer, to make sure his brother really was alright, before sighing, ruffling the youngest's hair the same way Sabo had.

"Good job Lu." Ace said, straightening up slightly and turning to face the two pirates again, giving them calm, calculated looks. He didn't know what to think, seeing as these two had their perfect opportunity to hurt Luffy, yet they hadn't. Maybe they were taking him somewhere else before they hurt him? Ace didn't know what to believe, just wanting to get back to their room where they could talk this all over.

"Thank you again, we know the way back from here. Sorry for any inconvenience Luffy was." Sabo apologized, bowing politely, tapping his leg.

'Bow.' He knew if he didn't tell Ace to then his brother would continue to stand defiantly. Luffy always did what Sabo did, so he wasn't worried about the youngest. Besides, he could already see Luffy imitating his bow from where he stood slightly behind him and Ace. It was a little awkward and Luffy looked off balance doing it, but it got the message across. Sabo would have to teach him how to properly bow later.

Ace huffing quietly beside him brought his attention back to the present as he watched the stubborn oldest brother finally begin to, begrudgingly, bow to Thatch and Marco.

"Thanks." Ace muttered, and Sabo was going to beat some none sense into Ace later too. Didn't the idiot understand yet that they had to be nice here?!

No, he wasn't going to get mad. Getting mad is what caused this mess to happen in the first place. He and Ace let their emotions get out of control and it could have lost them their brother had Marco and Thatch attacked Luffy rather than helped him.

"Really, it was no problem. I guess we'll see you at lunch?" Thatch asked, waving off their gratitude. Sabo smiled, putting on his mask of politeness.

"We will. Goodbye Commanders." Sabo said, he and his brothers turning to head to their room, moving almost stiffly as they felt Marco and Thatch watching them for a minute before turning and walking away, continuing on with the conversation they had been having before they'd found Luffy.

"I swear Kingdew knew that the damn fish was still alive when he gave it to me!"

"It's your fault for not expecting it, yoi."

"Who expects a fish to suddenly resurrect itself in your hands and slap you in the face?!"

"Smart people."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> A little bit of bonding there, eh? Thatch and Marco were the first ones Luffy met and was able to get an impression of, so naturally, they'll be the easiest to gain the brothers' trust. They did, after all, help them get out of the facility with no questions asked at the time.
> 
> Just to reiterate from before, whenever there are strong emotions around Luffy he can end up... absorbing them for a lack of a better word, and then he will end up feeling that emotion himself, like the anger he got from Ace and Sabo. Sure, he wasn't angry before, but once Sabo and Ace started arguing and feeling mad, Luffy did too. Different emotions cause him to do different things, like the warmth nearly putting him to sleep and anger blinding him to the point that he completely forgot about his fears for a moment and was able to freely roam the halls of the Moby.


	25. Thoughts of Venturing Beyond

"Luffy we're so sorry, we didn't mean for any of that to happen. It got out of hand and we didn't mean for it to." Sabo apologized, the three of them sitting on their bed, talking about the big fight Ace and Sabo had had.

"Its ok, I'm sorry too, there was a lot of anger and I didn't mean to let it in, I didn't want it to, but it just did, and then I got mad too, and I left, but I didn't know where I was going, or where I was, and then I was lost, and then Thatch and lazy face found me, and I got even more scared, and-"

"We get it Lu." Ace said, cutting off Luffys ramblings, knowing that if he didn't the boy would probably go on for another hour.

"It wasn't your fault anyway, it was ours, so we're sorry." Ace continued, frowning to himself, still mad that he'd let himself get so angry, and at Sabo none the less!

"Yeah, it won't happen again, promise," Sabo added, holding up his pinky. Luffy smiled brightly at that and connected his pinky with Sabo's, lifting his other one and holding it out to Ace expectantly. The eldest rolled his eyes but smiled and connected his pinky with Luffys as well before connecting his other with Sabo's.

"This is stupid." Ace said after a minute, which caused Sabo to laugh and Luffy to pout.

"Nu-uh! It's a promise! We're not gonna get mad at each other like that again!" Luffy said determinedly.

"That reminds me, Luffy, who taught you to bow?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The rest of the day passed with little to no more big events happening, the only memorable thing that had happened was that Thatch didn't give up on trying to get the brothers out of their room, more adamant about it now than ever. The worst part about it was that even Izo was beginning to join in on it, mentioning how he'd like to see them out and about as well.

The next day, a few hours after breakfast, the trio was doing what they usually did in between meals, sit in their room and stare at the ceiling.

Ace had just suffered a narcolepsy attack, leaving Sabo and Luffy to drag him off the floor and into the bed, waiting for him to wake back up. They had been lucky in terms of Aces attacks happening out of the eyes of the pirates. None of them wanted them to know about the narcolepsy in fear that they would somehow use it against the brothers so they had tried their best to keep it a secret, but it was hard when Ace couldn't control when he had an attack.

With everything that had happened at the facility and all the drugs that had been pumped into the trio it only made Aces narcolepsy worse. The eldest always had trouble when it came to getting a good nights rest, but at the facility he always had a hard time falling asleep, his insomnia becoming worse than ever before.

Now that they were out of the facility though and Ace was able to have a better sleep schedule, free of harmful drugs and chemicals, his attacks had lessened a bit, along with his hallucinations and insomnia. He still had them, and most times he would be up a few hours after Sabo and Luffy had fallen asleep, but it was better than before when he would stay up practically the whole night.

"Get away you damn bastard!" The sudden shouting coming from Ace startled Sabo and Luffy only slightly, used to it as they began calming their brother down from what was undoubtedly another nightmare.

"Ace, its ok, we're not there anymore," Sabo said soothingly, wanting to place his hand on the eldests shoulder, but knowing that might do more harm than good at the moment. The fire users eyes were open, but they were hazy and unfocused. After his initial outburst, it seemed that Ace couldn't speak, at least coherently, anymore, his mouth opening and closing, mouthing words but not making a sound.

"Ne, Ace, did you know the swirls on the wood like like cinnamon rolls? Oh! Or meat when it's cooked and juicy and... I'm hungry." Luffy said, holding his stomach as it growled, frowning. Sabo sighed, shaking his head and turning back to Ace.

"Ace were safe, were free, its ok." Sabo continued, his tone still gentle and calm. It took another few seconds but Ace seemed to calm down, eyes refocusing on his brothers and becoming clear again. The hazy fog that clouded his mind was clearing and their brother was awake again.

"Welcome back," Sabo said with a small smile, patting Ace comfortingly on the back, Luffy grinning widely to the oldest. Ace seemed a little out of it still but nodded anyway. Sabo perked up, noticing footsteps heading their way, ones he could recognize that wasn't Marcos.

"Who is it?" Ace asked, once again wishing he had better senses when it came to noticing people coming their way. Both Sabo and Luffy seemed to know who it was due to their enhanced hearing and smell, but Ace had no clue, having to rely on them to inform him. Sure, he had his haki, but there were so many people on this ship that it was hard for him to distinguish which presence belonged to who.

"Thatch," Sabo said in confusion, wondering why the chef would be heading their way.

"Mr. Chef always smells like food!" Luffy whined, remembering his hunger once again at the smell of meat and seafood that signified Thatch. While Luffy was lamenting over his lack of food, Sabo took notice of the fact that Luffy either thought Thatch's name was Mr. Chef or called him that purely because he had called him that when talking to him. Whichever the case, it was better than Luffy making up a nickname that could possibly be insulting to the man.

"What does _he_ want?" Ace asked, sitting up in the bed and getting ready for a fight, though Sabo didn't think it would come to that. With Ace, though, you never knew.

As always Sabo stood from the bed, making his way to the door to greet the man if he so happened to stop at their room. With how ready to fight Ace was and how timid Luffy became when talking to others, Sabo had taken it upon himself to be the one to talk to anyone and everyone during their time here.

The second there was a knock on their door Sabo was swinging it open with his false smile and calm attitude, perfect to anyone who saw it, but obviously fake to Sabo and his brothers.

"Hello Mr. Chef, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Sabo asked politely. Behind him, not that Sabo or Thatch could see, Ace was giving Luffy a confused look, mouthing the words, 'To what do we owe the pleasure?' to the youngest. He had no clue about manners, and whatever Sabo had just spewed out of his mouth had to have been polite, but Ace, and Luffy for that matter, had no clue what it meant.

"Ah," Thatch started, surprised by both how fast Sabo had opened the door as if he had known he was coming, and how polite Sabo was.

"Well, I just came by to see if you three wanted to come out on deck, you know, get some fresh air? I'm free for a bit till I have to make lunch so I was just wondering if you'd like to join me." Thatch said, somewhat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while smiling at Sabo, trying to peek in to see the other two. It was impossible though because Sabo was doing an extremely effective job of keeping the Commander from seeing anything but the wooden ceiling above him.

"We appreciate the offer Commander, but we were just about to take a nap. Maybe later?" Sabo suggested, trying his best to look disappointed as if he wanted to go outside despite the fact that he very much did not want to do that. As was Thatch's usual response to Sabo denying a request to leave their room Thatch pouted, but fixed it quickly, smiling again.

"It's alright, I understand, I just thought I'd ask. I'll see you three later. Have a nice nap!" Thatch said, waving as he began walking away. Sabo waved back before closing the door, smile falling to one of relief that he had successfully dodged another of Thatch's attempts at getting them to leave their room.

"What is with that guy?! Cant, he take a hint?" Ace growled out, glaring at the door. Sabo wiped his face with his hand, sitting back on the bed, suddenly feeling exhausted and in need of that nap.

"He's definitely persistent, but I have to say, it is becoming a bit stuffy in here," Sabo admitted, glancing around the room that once seemed larger, now seemingly smaller than their cell had been. Ace turned his glare on Sabo.

"Don't tell me you actually want to go out there with all those pirates!" Ace hissed, though he was conscious of the fact that his anger was rising and did his best to breath, calm down. He, under no circumstances, wanted a repeat of what happened with Luffy. Sabo also remembered what happened and made sure to breathe through any anger that wanted to rise, addressing Ace calmly.

"No, I don't want to go out there with the pirates, but that doesn't mean I don't want to go out there," Sabo said slowly. Ace went quiet, thinking about what Sabo said.

"I wanna go out too, but there's a lotta pirates and feelings, but I haven't felt the darkness, but they always stare at us," Luffy rambled, which he seemed to be doing a lot more of lately. Sabo deduced it was probably from the stressful, unknown situation they were in.

"We understand Luffy, there are a lot of unknowns out there, whereas if we stay in here we know exactly what can and will happen, I'm just saying that we're slowly going stir crazy in here and we've still got a few days until Shanks gets here, assuming he doesn't run into any trouble on his way here," Sabo explained. Luffy tilted his head.

"Whats stir crazy? Is it like stir fry?!" Luffy asked, brightening at the mention of food. Sabo sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm.

"No, it's not food Luffy. Stir crazy, its when you start to feel a little crazy from being kept in one place for too long." Sabo explained, Luffy seemingly disappointed when he realized it wasn't food.

"What are we supposed to do then? Sure, I don't wanna be in here either, but I'd rather be in here than out there!" Ace said, gesturing wildly at the door. Sabo shrugged, slumping a little.

"I don't know Ace, but if we don't somehow manage to get out of this room for more than meals and bathroom breaks I think we're going to start having a lot more problems," Sabo muttered, confusing his brothers.

"Problems?" Luffy questioned.

"How would we have more problems here? It's safer here!" Ace said incredulously. Sabo frowned, shaking his head.

"Think about it, just yesterday we got into an argument that was bad enough to influence Luffy to storm out. If we stay in this room any longer there's a chance that could happen again and we won't be so lucky that Luffy runs into Thatch and Marco who are willing to help him back to us. By being stuck in here we're not only going to be bored, but we're also going to be easier to anger. Not only that, but more people are starting to ask us to come out, and I can only dodge their requests for so long before they either get mad and attack us or think somethings up and send the nurse after us again." Sabo explained, slowly enough so his brothers would understand what kind of predicament they were in. Aces eyebrows were furrowed in thought while Luffy had listened with wide, innocent eyes leaving Sabo unsure how much of that explanation he understood.

"So... you're saying... if we stay in here we'll turn on each other, but if we go out there they'll turn on us?" Ace asked. This time Sabo did facepalm but kept his frustration in check.

"You... almost got it Ace." He said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile, and he knew he wasn't fooling either of his brothers.

"Well, sorry I'm not as smart as you are at this stuff!" Ace said, throwing his hands into the air, also frustrated. Luffy could feel the rising frustration and anger, causing worry to bubble up in him.

"No! Don't get mad!" Luffy cried out, Ace and Sabo turning to look at him with wide eyes. They both froze, taking deep breaths, and Luffy felt their anger and frustration slowly leave them, worry and warm feelings replacing them.

"Sorry, Lu." Ace said softly, ruffling the youngest's hair.

"Sorry, Luffy. This is exactly what I mean though. You were partially right Ace, staying in here, we could end up turning on each other, but the thing is, we don't know if they'll turn on us if we leave." Sabo started, already seeing Ace ready to argue with him.

"They might, but we don't know. So far, we know Thatch and Marco are good guys, right Lu?" Sabo asked, both to reassure Ace and to reassure himself because he was about to suggest something risky, something he really didn't want to do, but he trusted Luffy.

"Mm! Mr. Chef kept his promises and they both have good colors!" Luffy confirmed, smiling a little.

"What's your point?" Ace asked Sabo, already not liking where this was going.

"The point I'm trying to make is that... maybe we should try to go outside, at least once. We can stay near Thatch or Marco, keep our backs against the railings, stay close to our room, but at the very least, go outside for a few minutes. This way, we won't go crazy in here and we'll get the Commanders off our backs about going out." Sabo said quietly, not even liking his own words as he spoke them. He didn't trust the pirates, not one bit, but they had no choice but to be near them if they wanted any sort of fresh air.

Ace went quiet as he thought over the suggestion, eyebrows furrowing once more while he lowered his head. Luffy went silent as well, and Sabo and Ace both knew that, even if they both wanted to do this, Luffy was really the deciding factor. Luffy was the one who would have to feel all the pirates' emotions and, if he was up to it, check out some of their soul colors.

The room was silent as they contemplated this idea, but eventually, Ace spoke up, still frowning.

"Ok. I'll go out." Ace said, extremely reluctant, it was obvious in his voice, but he knew that this was something the three needed. While Sabo was the one who focused on keeping the brothers safe in terms of the interactions they had with the pirates Ace was in charge of keeping them safe when it came to the situations they put themselves in, and this was something they needed, but would put them in a lot of danger. Ace knew that if they did this he wouldn't be relaxed for one millisecond while out there on the deck, surrounded by pirates.

Just the thought made him shudder.

"Luffy? What do you think? If you don't want to we can stay here and figure something else out." Sabo asked softly, he and Ace watching the youngest carefully. He was wearing his rarely seen serious expression, hands fidgeting as he thought carefully about his options.

He didn't want all of those emotions to overload him, but he could help Ace and Sabo by finding out what colors the pirates' souls were. He could already feel anxiety twisting in his stomach at the thought of the sheer amount of people that would be out there.

"I-If... can we leave if it gets... gets too... scary?" Luffy asked, almost too scared to ask the question. He didn't want Ace or Sabo to think he was a kid, but just the thought of going outside was scary to him, much less the actual action of it. His older brothers expressions softened and Luffy felt them increase the amount of warmth they were sending him, making him feel more comfortable, happy they weren't mad at him for being scared.

"Of course Lu, just say the word and we'll come right back here, no questions asked." Ace said gently, Sabo nodding in agreement.

"Why don't we do this tomorrow? After lunch?" Sabo asked, not wanting to do this today, feeling too exhausted after this talk. Ace and Luffy nodded rapidly, both of them not up to doing it that minute either. Sabo sighed heavily.

"Good. Now, I think I'm gonna take that nap. Wake me up for lunch." Sabo said, falling into a laying position, ignoring Aces snickers.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What's got you all pouty?" Blamenco asked Thatch. Lunch was just starting, pirates starting to pool into the galley one by one. All of the Commanders were at the table, Whitebeard as well, and they all turned to look at the chef when Blamenco mentioned him.

"Why don't they wanna leave their room?" Thatch asked dejectedly. Beside him Marco shook his head, figuring out what Thatch was talking about fairly quickly.

"They don't seem to trust us, yoi, that might be the issue," Marco said lazily as if it were obvious, and really it was. It was painfully obvious the brothers didn't trust any of them, despite how much they've tried showing them they were good people, even for pirates. Thatch's pout only got worse.

"But why?! We haven't done anything!" Thatch whined, not understanding.

"Thatch, you have to understand that were strangers to them. Strangers who saved them from a horrible place, sure, but strangers none the less. They know nothing about us, and the fact that we're pirates doesn't help either." Izo explained. The pout lifted slightly and Thatch raised his head a bit.

"Don't worry son, I'm sure that once they see we mean them no harm you will become fast friends," Whitebeard said encouragingly, smiling to Thatch who beamed back.

"Yeah, you're right, I just gotta keep trying! By the way, where are they?" Thatch asked, looking around and seeing no signs of the brothers.

"They're on their way, I went by and told them lunch was ready, yoi," Marco informed, and as if on cue the chef spotted the trio walking in, walking quickly up to the table and sitting down. Thatch was up in seconds, getting the brothers their food with a bright smile, sitting back down beside them.

"Hey guys, how was your nap?" Thatch asked, and as usual, the only response he got was from Sabo, Luffy focusing more on his food and Aces eyes darting around, watching everything.

"Good, thank you ," Sabo replied with a smile. Encouraged by both the response and the talk with Whitebeard the chef decided to ask his signature question.

"So, you guys gonna come outta your room anytime soon?" Thatch tried, and to be honest, he was expecting the same response, for Sabo to dodge the question with apologies and excuses, but he, and everyone else at the table was surprised when Sabo turned his attention fully to Thatch, still smiling. Briefly, he noticed that Ace and Luffy had given him their attention as well, the two of them slightly tense.

"Actually, we planned on coming out tomorrow. It gets stuffy staying in the same room for so long." Sabo said nonchalantly, shrugging and returning to his meal. Thatch gaped at him for a minute, having not expected the response, but quickly recovered, smile brightening as he felt excitement fill him.

"Yeah! I heard that it's supposed to be nice out tomorrow, but really, you never know when it comes to the Grand Line! Oh, I also heard," Sabo tuned the chattering out easily, smiling and nodding in all the right places, making it look like he was paying attention. Just saying those words to Thatch had taken a lot, and now Sabo couldn't take them back. He could practically feel everyone's shock when he had said the words, all eyes on him, but he did his best to not let it look like it bothered him as much as it did. He could feel Luffy shifting beside him, and though the youngest was inbetween him and Ace he was sure that the oldest was fidgeting as well.

When Thatch had started rambling it relieved Sabo a little, his brothers calming down which was a good sign, and Sabo took the opportunity to start listening in on other conversations, something he hadn't been doing with everything that had been happening.

With all this stress Sabo was sure he was going to get grey hairs soon.


	26. The Sun, the Sea, and the Sky

"This was a bad idea, I don't know how you talked me into doing this..." Ace mumbled, pacing back and forth in their room. Luffy could feel the nervous anxiety rolling off the oldest, which didn't help with his own feelings of fear and anxiety. Sabo had the same feelings, the blonde twiddling his fingers nervously as they all worked up their courage.

"It'll be fine, its just like when we started eating meals with the pirates, it was fine in the end," Sabo said, though he looked like he was saying it more to himself rather than to Ace.

The only thing the brothers could think of was the worst case scenarios, the pirates attacking them, the pirates throwing them into the infirmary, the nurses shackling them, doing tests, locking them up, separating them.

Sending them back to the facility.

All these scenarios made it harder for them to even imagine stepping foot outside the door, but Sabo had promised Thatch yesterday that they would do this.

Boy, how he was regretting that now.

"Maybe we can... make an excuse?" Ace suggested weakly, eyeing the door wearily.

"Yeah, like what?" Sabo asked, his voice just as weak as Aces.

"We're... sick?" Ace asked, and Sabo sighed, shaking his head. He almost wished they could come up with a good excuse, anything to get them out of doing this.

"They'll send us to the infirmary," Sabo said. Ace frowned, continuing his pacing and letting the room lapsed into silence. Luffy hugged his knees to his chest from where he sat on the bed, eyeing his two brothers with worry. He wanted to go outside, and he knew Ace and Sabo wanted to go outside, but they were all too scared of what could happen. Even though Luffy had seen good colors around people and only felt good feelings it didn't help with his anxieties. Besides, he hadn't look at even a quarter of the crews' feelings for the darkness, much less the color of their souls. Whose to say that there wasn't a group of pirates that were all bad colors with dark feelings?

"Let's just get this over with!" Ace suddenly shouted, freezing in place and giving a determined look to Sabo and Luffy who stared at him with wide eyes. They definitely weren't expecting Ace to be the one to say this.

"W-what?" Sabo asked, Luffy looking inbetween the two cautiously. Ace nodded, face growing more determined, even though Luffy felt none of his anxiety leaving.

"Yeah! Let's just go out there and get this over with. Hang out for a few minutes. Like you said yesterday, we need to do this, and we can stay close to our room or near Thatch and Marco, or with our backs to the railings! And if Luffy wants to leave, then we leave, no questions asked." Ace said, stunning Sabo into silence. He didn't have much time to think about it though when he heard footsteps and talking heading their way.

"Well, it looks like we're not gonna have a choice in the matter," Sabo said as he and Luffy straightened up, recognizing the smells and sounds. Ace froze again, turning to face the door again while Sabo stood up, stealing his nerves. He slowly made his way to the door, listening as the people grew closer. He took a deep breath, hearing Luffy and Aces own breathing grow more rapid as they got more nervous and scared.

Scared wasn't a term the brothers liked to use. It made them feel weak, but after everything that had happened at the facility, scared was something they felt daily.

Per usual Sabo opened the door the second there was a knock, blocking the view into the room with his body, smiling as best he could under the circumstances, hoping that he was imagining the feeling of the corners of his mouth twitching under the pressure.

"Commanders," Sabo greeted with false cheer.

"How does he do that? Its like he knows we're coming!" Thatch whispered in a hushed voice to Marco who waved him off. Sabo kept his pleasant smile on, finding slight amusement in Thatch's surprise before it was replaced with the usual nervousness and unease.

"Thatch wanted to know if you were coming out today, yoi," Marco said lazily, and Sabo had a feeling Thatch had dragged him along here.

"I could've said that myself..." Thatch mumbled, feeling as if he was being glossed over by the first commander. Sabo gripped the doorknob tightly in his hand, his lips thinning only slightly as he turned to face his brothers. Now was the time, if they were going to back out, they had to do it now. Ace and Luffy still looked as petrified as Sabo felt, which wasn't any help, but Luffy signing something caught his eye.

'I wanna try,' That was enough for Sabo. By the look in Aces eyes as he read Luffy's signs though, he wasn't too excited for this outing.

"We were actually just on our way." Sabo tried saying coolly, but he wasn't sure how calm and smooth it sounded to the commanders. Thatch brightened up immediately at the words and Marco even raised an eyebrow in interest, probably not having expected them to actually come out today.

Well, neither had they.

Sabo didn't move from his spot, watching the commanders closely while leaving his smile on as he waited for Ace and Luffy to reach him, listening to their slow shuffles and hesitant steps. Before Marco or Thatch could question what Sabo was doing the blonde opened the door wider, walking out with Ace and Luffy close behind him, Ace closing the door behind them.

It took only a second for Thatch to recover from his shock as he quickly caught up to the brothers, leading the way for them with Marco at his side. The brothers were in their usual formation with Luffy in the middle, following the two silently as Thatch raved about how nice it was outside.

'Bad colors? Darkness?' Ace asked Luffy, wanting the youngest to be 100% sure that Thatch or Marco didn't have the bad colors or darkness before they followed them out onto the deck. Luffys eyes focused intently on Thatch first, then Marco, his steps slowing only slightly as he concentrated, but within a minute he was done, finding it was easier to read the two seeing as he'd been doing a lot of that lately.

'No bad colors, only good feelings.' Luffy reassured, only calming Ace and Sabo slightly.

"-And there hasn't been a single cloud in the sky all day!" Thatch said as he spun to face them, walking backward. The trio tensed at the sudden attention, but Sabo forced his smile to return.

"Sounds lovely," Sabo said pleasantly. Thatch continued to beam at them for a minute before turning back around, the group coming to the end of the hallway.

"You know, everyone was beginning to think we would never see you three come out of your room." Thatch said matter-of-factly, shrugging at his words. Sabo chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's been an... interesting few days," Sabo said wearily. Thatch didn't seem to notice the change in tone, merely nodding.

"Yeah, I guess its been pretty stressful for you three, huh?" Thatch asked offhandedly. Sabo bit his tongue, keeping back the words that wanted to spill out about how true that statement was, and still is.

"A little," Sabo said in the end, seeing Ace twitch a little out of the corner of his eye, Luffy slumping a little as he walked. It went silent as they finally reached the door leading to the deck, Marco and Thatch taking no hesitation in pushing it open, leaving the brothers as they walked out on deck, not noticing the trio had stopped.

'Now or never.' Ace signaled, and Sabo and Luffy knew he was right.

'We can leave at any time.' Sabo reminded, more for himself than his brothers.

I'm scared.' Luffys tapping made Ace and Sabo's faces soften.

'Don't worry Lu, we'll be with you the entire time.' Ace signaled back, and Luffy nodded, taking a deep breath. Ace and Sabo did the same, all of them preparing to walk out on the deck. The entire conversation had only taken a few seconds and Marco and Thatch hadn't gotten that far, but if they didn't move now they would lose the two in the throngs of pirates on deck.

'Ready?' Sabo tapped out, his brothers both frowning, but nodding in response. Sabo nodded as well, and then took the first step on deck. He had almost forgotten already how warm the sun felt on his skin, and how bright it was at that. They had always moved so fast between the galley and their room that they hadn't had time to enjoy the sun, but now that they were out here only for the purpose of enjoying the fresh air they were able to actually feel the sun on their awfully pale skin.

Ace and Luffy followed Sabo out onto the deck, Luffy a little more hesitantly, but within seconds all three brothers were standing on the deck, absorbing the sun.

Although the sun had its benefits, the disadvantage of having to go outside to get it meant that they were the center of attention once again.

All eyes were on them, all of them wide with wonder and shock as they openly gazed at the brothers.

'They could at least try to be discreet about it.' Ace tapped out scornfully, glaring at those staring, which was everyone.

"No need to be shy, come on." Sabo had forgotten their main plan to stay near Thatch or Marco but was immediately reminded of it as Thatch stopped and came back to them, smiling warmly to the brothers and waving off everyone's stares. Sabo couldn't even manage to force out a response, only nodding as he took a hesitant step towards Thatch, Marco watching from slightly further away. Luffy suddenly lunged forward, grabbing at his hand and squeezing it tightly, stopping Sabo from moving any further. All eyes were still on them, but Sabo managed to ignore them for now, turning to look at Luffy with a questioning gaze.

'What is it Lu?' Sabo asked, tapping on the back of Luffy's hand. Had his brother sensed the bad feeling? Or did he see a bad color? He could tell Ace was thinking the same thing as he moved closer to Luffy, scanning their surroundings quickly, ready to fight.

'Scared.' Luffy tapped the word out slowly, hesitantly on Sabo's hand, and Sabo could see Luffy scanning their surroundings as well. Sabo could hear how fast Luffy's heart was pumping, and even though his and Aces were pumping just as fast he could hear that Luffy was moving just a bit faster.

'Lots of feelings, curious, wonder, like doctors, curious about us.' Luffy tapped more fervently, remembering how the doctors had felt the same feelings towards the brothers whenever they tested on them. His breathing was picking up now and Ace and Sabo knew they had to calm him down before he caused a scene and someone sent for a nurse.

'Not doctors Lu, pirates, good feelings right? No darkness?' Ace asked, grabbing hold of Luffy's other hand. Luffy hesitantly nodded, though made sure the movement was small and discreet so as to not tip off the pirates to their silent conversation.

'So we're fine. Wanna sit on the railing? Look at the sea? I'll watch your back.' Ace suggested, discreetly moving his head towards the railing near the door they had just exited. Luffy started to calm down at the thought, knowing Ace would keep him safe, keep the pirates from hurting him. He smiled a little and nodded again, grip loosening and breathing slowing back to normal, though his heart was still pumping from the anxiety of everyone looking at them.

Sabo was once again glad that they could have these conversations between each other within seconds because otherwise they would have stood there in awkward silence for too long and it would have been hard to explain.

"Why don't we go sit over there Lu?" Sabo asked out loud, smiling a little as Luffy nodded more confidently, even smiling a little back at him.

"I hope you don't mind," Sabo said in his best apologetic voice. Thatch waved it off, still smiling.

"Its no problem, have fun! If you need me I'll be over by Pops' chair!" Thatch said gleefully, already turning to leave. Sabo sighed in relief, watching as Marco, after watching them for another second, turned and walked off as well, leaving the brothers alone. People were still watching them, but some were beginning to return to their tasks which they were grateful for as they made their way over to the railing. There wasn't anyone over there, all of them in the middle of the large deck or near Whitebeards chair, leaving the railings open for the brothers to relax near.

'Come on Lu, I'll sit with you, just don't fall off.' Sabo tapped out, climbing up onto the railing and patting the spot next to him. Luffy beamed at him, jumping onto the rail as well and plopping down beside him, looking at the large ocean in front of them. Ace sat with his back against the rail and arms crossed across his chest, legs stretched out in front of him, facing everyone on the deck. He feigned sleep, making his body look relaxed on the outside, but staying constantly tense, ready for a fight at any moment as he peered through his mostly closed eyelids at everyone walking by.

His amazing eyesight made it easy to see every person on deck, where they were looking, what their expressions were. Even with his eyes mostly closed it was still clear enough for him, making him the best one to keep watch. To anyone that looked his way they'd think he was sleeping, but Sabo and Luffy knew better, especially Sabo who could still hear Aces fast beating heart and rapid breathing.

The three sat in silence, Luffy and Sabo mesmerized by the beauty of the ocean, how it seemed to continue on endlessly, sparkling in the sunlight.

'It's beautiful, right Lu?' Sabo tapped against the rail so Ace could hear it without having to see it. Luffy nodded.

'Peaceful.' Luffy tapped back, smiling a little. The sight made him calm down even more than before, enjoying the view. Luffy remembered one of the reasons for coming out here and glanced at a large number of pirates behind him, some still looking his way.

'Stop if it gets too much.' Sabo tapped, and Luffy nodded, turning to face the ocean, his eyes unfocusing as his attention was more on the feelings in the air. He did his best to filter the feelings from being one large mass of emotion into strings, connecting to each person they belonged to, searching for even a hint of the darkness in someone. He didn't know how long he searched, but he was sure that he had searched everyone on the deck, maybe even some people lingering in the galley too.

'No dark feeling.' Luffy reported, Sabo nodding in relief beside him. The blonde had been watching Luffy closely for any signs that he was being influenced by others' emotions. The youngest had been unresponsive for almost ten minutes by the time his eyes seemed to refocus and he gave the message. Sabo knew it was because there was a large number of pirates on the deck rather than just a handful of doctors in a small room.

'Do you want to see colors?' Sabo tapped almost hesitantly. He knew how Luffy got when it came to taking down his barriers, scared that he would accidentally bring both down and start hurting people. With so many people on this deck, Luffy would probably hurt himself too by seeing too many memories at once, overloading his brain.

Luffy glanced at Sabo, an unsure look on his face as he thought about it, and Sabo saw Ace shift nervously from where he sat on the ground.

'I wanna help...' Luffy tapped, clearly nervous again. Sabo gave him a smile, sending a pulse of warmth to the youngest.

'You have helped Lu, you don't need to check colors if you don't feel up to it, alright?' Sabo responded, Ace giving a subtle nod in agreement as he listened closely to the tapping so he could follow the conversation. Luffy didn't respond for a minute, clearly thinking about his options.

'I wanna check.' Luffy finally tapped, Sabo nodding as he turned on the railing to face the crew, Luffy doing the same while Ace continued feigning sleep.

"Ne, Luffy, doesn't the cloud look like a flower?" Sabo asked, pointing to a cloud off in the distance. Luffy looked, smiling a little and nodding.

"Mm! And that one looks like meat!" Luffy said softly, pointing to his own cloud. Seeing as the brothers had been on the deck for a little bit now the pirates around them had all eventually stopped staring at them, but Sabo didn't want Luffy to suddenly start staring at them in silence with no indication of why he was doing it, so he created this distraction.

Luffy slowly, carefully, brought down his first barrier, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm so he wouldn't accidentally bring both down at once. Beside him Sabo continued rambling about different cloud shapes, pointing at them and keeping the conversation going while Luffy began glancing around the deck. He couldn't spend too much time looking at each person or else it would take him forever to get through everyone, but at a glance, he would be able to tell if there were any dark colors in someone's soul.

His eyes skimmed across the deck quickly, making sure not to linger too long on one person. Everyone was looking good so far, everyone's colors a light shade of blue, no signs of any black or even grey in their colors.

"Hello, Commander." Sabo's sudden change in conversation snapped Luffy out of his scanning as he looked to where Sabo was looking, seeing Marco walking their way, his color the same near clear blue as it had been last time. Luffy took a deep breath, replacing his barrier, the colors disappearing as Marco finally reached them.

"Hello, yoi. I just came by to make sure you three were doing alright." Marco explained, and Luffy noticed that Ace wasn't feigning sleep anymore, eyes open, narrowed at the first commander. He was sitting up straighter now, body visibly tense, but not saying anything as usual.

"We are, thank you. Luffy and I were just enjoying the view, its beautiful after all." Sabo explained easily, gesturing to the wide expanse of ocean and sky surrounding them. Marco nodded in agreement, moving to lean over the rail, looking at the water hitting the side of the boat.

"That it is. Do you mind if I ask you a question, yoi?" The Commander asked, looking at Sabo now who frowned a little.

"You may, but I'll warn you, I may not answer it," Sabo said carefully, Ace tensing more and Luffy shifting nervously on the railing, though he felt no bad feelings coming from the man. Marco nodded at the response, turning to look at the ocean again.

"I understand, yoi, I wouldn't force you to answer anything you wouldn't want to. I was just wondering about something I remembered hearing back at the facility." Marco said calmly. At the mention of the facility all three brothers tensed up considerably, Ace glaring and scowling, Sabo frowning deeply, and Luffy averting his eyes, also frowning as he shifted nervously. The three began having memories of that place, the darkness, the cells, the training room, the tests.

"When Thatch and I first walked in and they were trying to convince us Luffy was delusional the lady at the desk told us that Luffy had defeated ten guards in his escape," Marco explained, and Sabo remembered how Luffy told him that the doctors made up things when he was rescuing them, and how the upstairs of the facility had been decorated. Sabo had made the assumption that the facility had been using it as a decoy, to make anyone who wondered in believe that it was a mental hospital for children rather than a horrible experimental lab.

"And?" Sabo asked cautiously, not knowing what Marco was trying to get at with this line of conversation. Marco turned to look at them again, Luffy still fidgeting around nervously and Ace tensed, barely holding it together at the mention of the facility while Sabo was trying to keep his calm, but was failing if his twiddling thumbs were anything to go by.

"I was wondering if it was true, yoi," Marco said nonchalantly as if it were no big deal. Sabo's frown deepened even more, and with no hesitation, he shook his head.

"No, Luffy, along with all of us, has no fighting background, not to mention for seven years we were barely fed and were given more drugs than you could imagine. None of us were in any shape to fight our way out. Luffy was actually just lucky, one of the facility guards that fed us got too close to the bars and we were able to nab the keys and escape before anyone noticed really. It wasn't until we were just about to get out that they noticed and started chasing after us. Ace and I got caught, but Luffy, obviously, escaped and found you and Mr. Chef." Sabo explained, the false story rolling easily off his tongue with practiced ease. He had made up the story for this exact moment, someone questioning how Luffy had escaped in the first place, but he hadn't needed to use it yet, until now.

This would also give the pirates false beliefs when it came to the brothers' strength and fighting experience. If they believed they had none, then they would have the advantage in a fight when it came to surprising them with not only their ability to fight but also the abilities they'd gained in the facility.

'Room.' The single word was tapped out quickly by Luffy, Ace turning to get a look at the youngest who looked ready to bolt. While Sabo had been explaining he'd failed to notice Luffys growing unease at the mention of the facility.

"If you'll excuse us, we'd like to head back to our room for a bit before dinner," Sabo said, already standing up off the railing along with Luffy, Ace getting up from the floor. Marco looked at them for a second before nodding.

"That's no problem, yoi. I'll see you then." The commander said, already walking off. Sabo nodded to him before he and his brothers turned as well, quickly heading to their room before anyone could stop them.

"You ok Lu?" Ace asked when they were in the safety of their room once again. Luffy nodded, sitting on the edge of their bed, Ace joining him.

"Mm..." Luffy hummed faintly, eyes distant as he, no doubt, began having memories of the facility.

"Don't worry Lu, were not back at that place, we never will be. In just a few days we'll probably be off this ship and on our way back home." Sabo said soothingly, sitting on Luffys other side and rubbing the youngest back.

"And then we can have all the crocodile and boar meat you want." Ace said with a bright smile. Luffy turned to look at him with hopeful eyes.

"Really?" He asked in a small voice. Aces grin widened.

"Yeah. Hey, I bet we could beat the Tiger Lord with no problem now!" Ace said, and just like that the tension was gone, all the bad memories, bad thoughts, dissipating as they talked about their home.

In a few days, they would be on their way back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> Marcos questioning the escape a bit now. After all, it would be a little weird to them for Luffy to be able to defeat ten guards and escape after being malnourished. Of course, Sabo's planned for these things and he used those questions to his advantage, because how could defenseless little Luffy take on all those guards by himself and get out?
> 
> Also, I wanted to address a review I read from Discworld (Fanfiction.net) where they asked how the pirates don't know more about the facility seeing as they could have interrogated the guards/doctors, as well as the fact that there was no doubt records being kept by the doctors about their experiments.
> 
> So first, yes, they could have, and did, interrogate the guards/doctors, but they wouldn't, and didn't get anything out of them. Trust me. No one there was going to say anything, and no amount of torture would get them to talk. I have a story of who runs the facility, where the facility came from, and what the purpose of the facility was, so even with terrifying pirates threatening their death, they wouldn't speak about what happened.
> 
> And let's just say that there was definitely some interrogation attempts done by the pirates that did in fact end in death.
> 
> Next, records. Yes, the doctors were very thorough in writing down every test, every symptom, every result that they got out of their experiments. However, due to the nature of this facility, none of these notes survived. There was a period of time where Luffy was out of the facility and the doctors/guards knew he was gone. With this breakout, the facilities existence was threatened and within the time Luffy was gone to when he returned, all records were destroyed.
> 
> I mentioned before on the map that Sabo had of the facility that there was a room where they took all the samples. That was also where they kept all of their information on their experiments, so when Luffy escaped, there was a chance of outsiders finding out about the facility, so to keep anyone from figuring out what the place was, the notes were destroyed. Yes, if they found Luffy without anyone finding the facility that would mean they lost years of notes, but the facilities secrecy was more important to them then the notes that they had. Besides, their more noteworthy experiments and results had already been sent off somewhere else.


	27. Red-Hair Incoming

"Ne, Ace, did you see that one guy with the funny mustache?" Ace sighed from where he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I did Luffy."

"And the one guy that was huuuge~!" Luffy said, stretching his arms out to imitate just how big the person was. Ace nodded.

"Yup."

"Oh, and there was that other guy, the one who was fighting with another guy! He had a really cool sword!" The youngest continued, jabbing the air as if holding his own sword.

"Pretty weird."

Sabo smiled from where he sat at the desk, listening to Luffys ramblings and Ace's half-hearted answers. He was amazed Ace hadn't snapped at Luffy by now, the boy having been going on and on about the different pirates he'd seen out on deck the day before. He didn't seem like he was going to stop anytime soon, but Ace didn't look like he minded either, laying there patiently and answering Luffy diligently.

Shanks was supposed to be arriving tomorrow, assuming everything had gone to plan, and the brothers' anxiety was starting to grow again, filled with unknowns and possibilities. If Shanks didn't come, what were the brothers supposed to do? The best they could do was fight their way off this giant ship, but what then? They'd be stranded with no food or fresh water. Sabo sighed, turning back to look at the desk.

Although all three brothers were back in good health- though Luffy and Ace could use a bit more food, to be honest- that didn't mean they were ready to take on hundreds of pirates who were armed and ready for battle at all times. They especially wouldn't be able to do anything against Whitebeard, no matter how many abilities they had been given by the facility. They would have the element of surprise, but that would only get them so far before the Pirates got over it.

"And there was the guy with the big hair too!"

At least from what Luffy saw yesterday before they got interrupted the pirates seemed to have good colors, which meant that they were somewhat good people. Sabo had figured that the colors around the soul indicated what kind of person someone was, and the grayer or, Kami forbid, black around a person, the sicker and more twisted they were, the more likely they were to hurt anyone just for the fun of it. At least these pirates didn't have that surrounding them.

"What about that one guy who-"

"I think its lunch time." Sabo interrupted, hearing Thatch's footsteps heading their way. Normally Marco told them when lunch was ready though, so he was skeptical. Shouldn't Thatch be in the kitchen making said lunch right now anyway?

While pondering those thoughts Sabo moved towards the door, Ace sitting up in the bed, ready for anything as usual, while Luffy watched curiously, head tilted slightly.

"Doesn't lazy face normally tell us its lunch time?" Luffy asked, and Sabo was reminded of the nickname the youngest had given the first Commander.

"Its Marco Lu, not lazy face, and yes, normally he does," Sabo said before there was a knock on the door and he was swinging it open. Thatch had his usual startled look but got over it quicker than normal.

"Do you guys have haki or something?!" Thatch asked incredulously, and Sabo had to bite back a laugh, tilting his head in mock confusion and furrowing his eyebrows, looking to be in deep thought.

"Haki? What's that?" Sabo asked innocently. Really, it was getting too easy to hide just how strong they were when the pirates asked questions like this. Thatch opened his mouth, looking flustered.

"Ah, you know, its- um- complicated... anyways, lunch is ready!" Thatch said, immediately grinning instead. Sabo nodded, already hearing Luffy and Ace standing and moving closer.

"Thank you," Sabo said pleasantly, the brothers filing out of the room and heading towards the galley, wanting to get the meal over with. Seeing as Shanks was coming it was taking everything they had to keep calm, and meal times were always stressful for the trio.

"Uh, right! So, you guys coming out again today?" Thatch asked as he jogged to catch up with them. Normally the brothers wouldn't let anyone stay behind them, but seeing as it was only Thatch, someone Luffy had gotten a good read on in terms of both emotion and soul color, they were a little ok with him being there, especially since they could still keep an eye on him seeing as he was the only one behind them.

"We might. We haven't really thought about it," Sabo said shortly, shrugging. The brothers actually had thought about it, a lot in fact, but they still hadn't come to a decision. Luffy hadn't gotten to see everyone's soul colors yesterday because they'd been interrupted, but if they did go there was always the chance that they would be interrupted again and have to answer more questions.

"Oh, well I hope you do, I never got to hang out with you yesterday! Jiru got me wrapped up in some business with his division and Pops was thinking of sending a small group from my division to one of our islands." Thatch said, relaxing with his arms behind his head as he walked. They were reaching the galley now, all of them filing in and making their way to the Commander table. Some pirates still stared, but most were used to seeing the brothers in the galley by now and didn't pay them much mind which made it easier on the brothers.

"Wheres Marco?" Namur asked as they reached the table, and Sabo was silently grateful the Fishman had asked the question because he had been wondering the same thing.

"Don't know, said something about extra paperwork this morning that he needed to get done. I gave him some lunch and decided to grab these three on my way back here." Thatch said, gesturing to the trio who were now digging into their lunch that Thatch had given to them. Namur nodded in understanding, also returning to his own food.

"That guy works too much, we gotta take that paperwork away from him," Atmos said, shaking his head. Haruta scoffed.

"We'd be in charge of doing it then," Haruta said, waving a fork at Atmos who cringed at the thought.

"On second thought, let's support Marco and his hard-working ways," Atmos said quickly, digging into his food while Haruta laughed.

"Really though, how does he always end up with so much paperwork when he works so much?" Rakuyo asked.

"He's in charge of the first division, not to mention overseeing all other divisions, including second seeing as we still don't have another commander to fill in for them," Izo explained calmly, the table growing quiet after that. The brothers were listening with interest, trying to learn as much about the Whitebeards as they could without having to ask questions. They didn't know how they operated, but this conversation was giving them good insight into it.

"Well, we know where Marco is, but what about Pops? Nurses at 'em again?" Fossa asked, looking at the empty chair at the head of their table.

"From what I heard Marco sent him there himself before shutting himself away. Caught him drinking again." Kingdew said, everyone nodding in understanding.

"The day Pops stops drinking is the day Thatch shaves his head," Vista said casually, Thatch gasping and grabbing his pompadour almost protectively.

"Never!" Thatch gasped, everyone laughing again.

"Hey, by the way,-" Curiel stopped talking as he turned to address the brothers, only to find their seats empty, the door to the galley swinging closed.

"Ah, damn, missed 'em," Curiel said with a shrug, everyone laughing again.

"Gotta be faster than that Curiel!" Haruta teased.

"They sure do eat fast." Fossa observed, looking at the plates that were practically licked clean.

"But they eat everything, so I've got no issues with it." Thatch said happily, grabbing the empty plates.

"They sure are interesting kids," Izo said fondly, watching the doors that the brothers had escaped out of.

"Yeah, and the blonde keeps doing this weird thing!" Thatch exclaimed, everyone, turning to him with raised eyebrows.

"Weird thing?" Atmos asked, intrigued. Thatch nodded.

"Yeah, every time I knock on their door Sabo opens up the second I knock, like he knows I'm coming!" Thatch explained, still curious about how the blonde did it.

"Haki?" Blenheim asked. Thatch shrugged.

"I asked the same thing, but Sabo didn't seem to know what it was. If he does have it he obviously doesn't know about it."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What's so funny?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow as he and Luffy watched their blonde brother stifle a laugh from his spot on the bed.

"Oh, nothing, just something I over heard," Sabo said, waving off his brothers curiosity, tuning out of the Commanders' conversation. Ace shrugged at that, deciding he wasn't going to get anything more out of his brother.

"Well, in any case, we should talk about what we're gonna do today. Do we wanna go back out on deck?" Ace asked, immediately getting down to business, crossing his arms. Luffy was fiddling with his hat which was held tightly in his hands, not looking up.

"It would be nice to get some fresh air again, but only if Luffys up to it. He didn't get a look at everyone's color yesterday. We'd also have to be prepared for someone trying to ask more questions too." Sabo said, weighing their options. Ace nodded, the two of them turning to look at Luffy.

"What do you think Lu?" Ace asked gently. The last thing they wanted was to make Luffy too uncomfortable. Luffy tilted his head back and forth, deep in thought, a serious expression on his face.

"Mm... I wanna... but I don't wanna talk to 'em..." Luffy explained slowly, Ace and Sabo nodding in understanding.

"If someone comes our way you and Ace can head back. I'll distract whoever it is and then follow right after." Sabo suggested though he didn't really like that plan. If they did this then Sabo would be left alone, even if it was only for a minute. His brothers caught this as well, both shaking their heads.

"No way in hell I'm leaving you alone." Ace said sternly.

"Mm! I wanna stay with both Ace and Sabo!" Luffy said, Sabo sighing, somewhat relieved his brothers rejected his idea.

"Alright, then maybe you and Ace can start to head back but go slow. If I don't start heading after you by the time you reach the door then you can head back to me. Ace, you'll be able to see me the entire time, if I need you guys to come back or need help I'll signal for you." Sabo said, imitating their sign for help. This idea seemed to go over more smoothly than the last, Ace and Luffy nodding their agreement to the plan, even if it was with slight reluctance.

"So we're going then?" Ace asked. It went silent for a minute, the three of them glancing at each other, before Sabo sighed again, nodding.

"I guess so. Let's get this over with."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

In the back of Luffy's mind he knew he didn't have to do this. He knew he could just signal to his brothers and they would be back in their room faster than Luffy could eat a piece of meat, which was pretty fast mind you, but Luffy wanted to do this.

More like had to do this.

He felt like, if he didn't do this, he would be letting himself, Ace and Sabo down. It would be like letting the bad doctors win, everyone at the facility smiling and laughing at him because of what they'd done to him.

He remembered when he was back home in his village before he met Ace and Sabo when he would run up to strangers with no hesitation and smile and ask said stranger a wide variety of things. He remembered when he could run up to completely unknown pirates and act as if he were talking with Makino, someone he knew and trusted. He remembered when he didn't feel any of these bad feelings, the nervousness, the anxiety, the nausea. That was the worst, the feeling that he was going to hurl his lunch over the railing. He loved eating, and whenever he felt that way, the last thing he wanted to do was eat.

It was all those doctors fault, and he hated them for that. He just wanted to go back to the way things were, when he could smile and laugh without worrying that he was being too loud and that the doctors would come and punish him because of it.

He and Sabo were sitting on the railing, Sabo keeping up a conversation by himself beside him as he scanned the deck, going over everyone's colors quickly. He had to do this, had to prove to himself that he could go back to how things were, that he could go back to normal.

He knew Ace and Sabo were always worried about him, worried that he would become like he had back in the facility, when he would barely smile, barely talk to anyone, even his brothers. Luffy didn't want to become like that again either.

Doing this would prove he could get better. Going out on deck with strangers, pirates no less would prove that he could handle himself like he used to.

But even as he had these thoughts he could feel his anxiety peeking, nausea churning in his stomach, the nervousness making him twitchy. His feet were swinging in an attempt to vent out some of that nervous energy, his fingers rapping against the railing in a way that showed his brothers that he wasn't signaling something, but rather making the noise just to make the noise.

He was losing focus, he needed to keep his focus, if he didn't he might accidentally let down his other barrier, and he definitely didn't want to start looking into everyone's past, not when there were these many people.

Blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, everywhere he looked there was a blue aura around the pirates mingling on the deck. This was a good sign though, right? This meant that these were good people! But even good people could turn bad. It only took one wrong thought, one wrong intention, for that clear blue to start turning gray. He had seen it happen, one of the new doctors having come to the facility with a clear blue aura, but the longer they stayed, the darker their color got, until it was a stormy gray that made Luffy's stomach churn. It was never as bad as Haru's, he had never seen anyone as bad as Harus, but it wasn't a pleasant sight.

A pulse of warmth coming from his brothers brought him back to the present and he basked in the feeling, allowing his nervousness and anxiety to wash away, letting the warmth in. He was careful with how much he took in, not wanting whatever happened with the giant Captain to happen again, but it was still pleasant none the less.

'Good colors?' Sabo's tapping against the railing caught his attention, but he didn't stop scanning the pirates.

'Yeah, no darkness so far.' Luffy responded slowly, keeping his eyes peeled for even a hint of grey in someone's aura. With his thoughts taken off of the facility, Luffy was able to start focusing more and more on scanning the pirates.

He was nearly finished now. The brothers had been out on the deck for nearly half an hour in the same spot and positions that they had been in yesterday. So far no one had bothered them, but as Luffy was finishing up with the pirates that changed.

'First Commander coming this way.'

Luffy tensed at the taps and was ready to get up and walk away with Ace like they had planned, but he was almost done looking at all the pirates.

'You and Luffy go, I'll deal with it quickly.' Sabo tapped, already turning to look at the Commander with a warm smile. The thought that Sabo was getting good at acting crossed Luffy's mind before he returned to the task at hand.

'No, almost done.' Luffy tapped, scanning quicker than he had before, noticing lazy face was nearly here by now. Ace and Sabo looked at him.

'You sure Lu?' Ace tapped, but Luffy only nodded, determination on his face as he glanced around the deck. Ace and Sabo shared a look before sighing and shrugging.

'Alright, but leave if you have to.' Sabo tapped out and Luffy nodded, focusing wholeheartedly on the pirates rather than the Commander.

"Hello, Commander." Luffy could hear Sabo addressing lazy face but Luffy refused to look that way. If he did he would feel the anxiety again.

"Hello. I'm glad I found you three so easily, yoi." Marco said in his usual tone. Sabo kept the smile on, tilting his head slightly.

"Did you have something you wanted to discuss?" Sabo questioned and Luffy's lips thinned, trying his best to block the words out. Only a few more people left now.

"I did. We just got a call on the den den from Red Hair. He said he should be arriving here tomorrow shortly after breakfast, yoi." Marco explained arms crossed casually as he watched the brothers almost too closely. Luffy had just finished checking everyone's colors when he heard those words, immediately tensing, skin paling a little at the reminder.

Shanks was coming. Shanks was gonna be here tomorrow. Shanks was gonna see him again. He would be breaking his promise. He wasn't a great pirate! He wasn't anywhere near being a great pirate yet! What would Shanks think of him now? He had been captured, he had been tested on, he had been hurt and injured and drugged, and if he had been strong none of it would have ever happened.

But he wasn't strong.

He had gotten captured because he was weak. He had gotten hurt because he was weak. He had gotten injured because he was weak. He had to watch children and friends die right in front of him because he was too weak to save them, too weak to stop the doctors from hurting them.

He had killed.

Luffy shuddered as the memories of the fear in the children's eyes returned. The looks they gave him as he tried connecting to them under Harus orders. The look in their eyes as they passed away right in front of him.

Because of him.

He was too weak to stop himself from killing others.

Vaguely he was aware of Ace grabbing his hand, of his feet touching the ground as he was pulled along. He felt numb though, like he wasn't really moving his body, like it was on autopilot. Maybe people were talking around him, or even to him, but he couldn't hear them, couldn't feel anything, couldn't think about anything but their eyes. The children's eyes as they looked at him, terrified.

How could he face Shanks when he couldn't even face himself? How could he look at Shanks without being reminded that he had failed his idol? That he had gone and gotten himself captured, gone and let people die?

"Luffy,"

How was he going to face his brothers? How could his brothers face him? They _knew_ what he had done, they knew what he could _do_. How could they look at him and still stay by his side?

"Luffy, calm down!"

He couldn't do this. He couldn't go back to the way things had been, because he would be lying, to himself, to his brothers, to everyone. He wasn't his old self, he was changed, he was different, he couldn't go back to how he used to be, not after all the things he had done.

"LUFFY!"

A harsh stinging on his cheek snapped him from his thoughts, a sharp slapping noise echoing in the room around him as he looked around.

When had he gone back to his room? When had he left the deck?

"Luffy, you with us again?" His brothers' voice had him turning, looking curiously into Aces eyes. He brought a hand to his cheek, the sting already dulling as he realized Ace had slapped him, with haki of course.

"Ace? Sabo?" He asked, noticing the blonde was there as well, both of them sitting on their bed with him.

"Hey Luffy, its ok, we're back in the room now," Sabo said calmly, rubbing his back calmly. He could feel the warmth again, radiating off his brothers along with their worry and concern.

Suddenly Luffys lip was trembling, his hand dropping from his cheek as his eyes began watering.

He tried to stop the tears but once one fell they all began falling, a sob breaking from his throat, and suddenly he was wailing, tears streaming.

"Its alright Luffy we're here with you."

"Yeah, don't worry Lu, we won't let anything happen to you."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Luffy?" Marco turned to look at the youngest who was sitting beside Sabo on the railing, Ace standing at his side and grabbing his hand. The kids' eyes looked glazed over, distant, and Marco wondered what had triggered it. All he had said was that the red-haired brat would be here tomorrow, but why would that cause the youngest to look so... distant?

Before he could voice these questions Ace was tugging the boy off the rail, Luffy moving almost robotically as Ace pulled him away, some of his brothers looking after the two in confusion, noticing the dazed look on Luffy's face.

"I'm sorry Commander. Thank you for the information." Sabo said in a hurry, jumping off the rail himself and rushing off after his brothers, leaving Marco more confused than ever. Everyone else was watching in confusion as well, no one quite sure what to make of what had just happened.

Marco turned, seeing Whitebeard looking at him with confusion in his eyes as well.

"What happened, son?" Whitebeard asked as Marco made his way over to the giant, the other commanders gathering around as well, wondering the same thing. Marco shrugged.

"I don't know, yoi, all I did was tell them that Red Hair was going to arrive tomorrow," Marco explained, leaving everyone just as confused as before.

"But... wouldn't that make them happy? Why did the kid look so... detached?" Blenheim asked.

"Maybe they don't like Shanks after all?" Thatch questioned, still not sure about this whole thing.

"I don't know. If they don't like him why would Red Hair go looking for them for this many years?" Izo asked.

"We're not going to get answers to these questions today. Tomorrow we'll keep an eye on the brats, and when Red Hair gets here we'll keep a close eye on him too. For now, let's just make sure we keep them comfortable." Whitebeard announced, the commanders nodding in understanding.

It was only minutes after this conversation that they heard it.

It was so loud and sudden that it made most of the crew members on the deck jump in surprise, everyone turning towards the sound in shock.

"Was that...?" Thatch murmured from where he stood beside Marco, eyes wide. Marco was frowning deeply, a change from his usual bored look, and nodded. Thatch frowned as well, looking down at the deck as sadness welled in him.

The crew tried their best to ignore the heart-wrenching cries coming from the brothers' room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> As you can see, Luffy is most definitely not ok. I wanted to show just how much Luffy had changed after his time in the facility, because even though we all knew he was changed, we didn't know exactly to what it went. In an attempt to show this I used Shanks, someone who Luffy used to think of with only happy and fond feelings, but now those feelings are completely different and Luffy practically had a meltdown over it.
> 
> Its not Shanks himself that Luffy is scared or nervous of, its more the promise between them that hes scared of. Hes worried that, because of the facility, their promise is null and hes going to have to face Shanks, someone who he still looks up to immensely.


	28. Finally! The Arrival of Shanks

"Remember Luffy, the second you don't like it, we leave." Ace said, drilling it into Luffy's head. The youngest nodded mutely, a frown on his face as he shuffled his feet along the floor, the brothers heading back from breakfast.

"I mean it Lu, even if we didn't even make it out onto the deck." Ace urged, again Luffy only nodding mutely.

"And if they come hunting us down, we run, we get a lifeboat, and we leave." Ace continued. Sabo sighed, really hoping it didn't come to that, but knowing if it did even he would go along with that plan.

"Ace, calm down, we're all on edge right now, the best thing we can do is try and relax a bit before... Shanks gets here." Sabo said, hesitating near the end, both he and Ace looking at Luffy who looked like he was trying to sink into the floor.

"Do you wanna try and take a nap? Ace and I will stay up." Sabo asked as they entered their room. Luffy shook his head but shuffled to the bed anyway and laid down, facing the wall silently. Ace and Sabo watched him with worry, the blonde sighing. They both sent the youngest pulses of warmth in hopes that it would calm him down, turning to give each other their attention.

'What do you think's wrong with him?' Ace asked through their silent language, making sure he didn't make any noise with his tapping so Luffy wasn't disturbed. Sabo shook his head.

'I wish I knew. It might have to do with whatever promise he made to Shanks, but we won't know for sure unless he tells us. The best thing we can do right now is try and keep him calm.' Sabo responded. Ace nodded in agreement.

'Yesterday... do you think he was thinking about all those kids?' Ace asked his brother, remembering the look in Luffy's eyes. He had only seen it once before, the same distant, distraught look as back when he was in the facility after Haru forced him to hurt all those kids.

'Most likely, the only time he ever looked like that was back then.' Sabo tapped back sadly, moving to sit in the desk chair while Ace sat on the bed, near the edge so he could give Luffy space.

'When do you think he'll get here?' Ace asked, moving to lay down as well. Sabo shrugged, closing his eyes.

'Who knows, any minute now really.' Sabo replied, his own anxiousness beginning to take hold.

Silence lapsed over the three, no one speaking, whether through actual words or through their silent tapping. None of them were able to relax, all on edge, ready to go. Luffy was staring despondently at the wall, a million thoughts running through his head at once.

Maybe he could just avoid Shanks, stay in the room until he left. That way, he wouldn't break the promise! But Shanks was coming there specifically to see him, so did that mean Shanks didn't believe he could keep his promise after this and wanted to take Luffy's hat back? If Luffy didn't have the hat, all of their promises would be nonexistent. The straw hat was what was binding all those promises together, reminding Luffy every day exactly what he'd agreed to when Shanks had given it to him.

So who was he to avoid Shanks if he wanted to break off their promise? It was Shanks' hat, after all, it never truly belonged to him, and he was the one to break their promise in the first place. The fact that Shanks even needed to come looking for him proved that, because no great pirate would need someone to come looking for them. A great pirate wouldn't have been caught in the first place.

He had to see Shanks then if only to give the hat back. He didn't want to though. He remembered when he used to look forward to seeing Shanks' ship in the harbor, when he was excited and happy and energized, ready to hear tales from the red-haired man and hang out with Yasopp and Ben.

Luffy didn't know how much time had passed since breakfast, but he did know that the longer he laid there, the worse his anxiety got. He didn't want to move from his spot, didn't want to look at anyone, just wanted to melt into the bed and ignore the world forever.

"He's here." Sabo's words were soft, hesitant, and they made Luffys anxiety skyrocket, to the point that he was practically shaking with nervousness.

"Don't worry Lu, remember, we don't need to see him." Ace said soothingly, but it did nothing to ease Luffys tension. Not even the warm feelings coming from Ace and Sabo helped like they normally did.

Sabo could hear the pirates greeting Shanks and his crew, hear the Red Haired pirate boarding the Moby, hear Whitebeard send Marco to get the brothers. He took a deep, steadying breath and stood from the desk chair, moving to the door.

"Do you want to go Lu? Ace is right, we don't have to go see him, I can make up an excuse." Sabo said, worried for the youngest who still hadn't moved except for the slight tremors that ran through his body. Luffy was silent for a minute and Sabo could hear Marco getting closer.

Finally, Luffy moved, sitting up and nodding.

"Wanna go." Despite his words, the youngest looked like he definitely didn't want to go, but Sabo nodded regardless, knowing Luffy would say something if he couldn't handle it. Even if he didn't, Ace and Sabo knew the signs, what to look out for so something like yesterday couldn't happen again. Yesterday had been sudden and unexpected, giving all three brothers no warning as to the fact that Luffy was going to break down, but now they, for the most part, knew what was going to happen.

"Alright, just... stay close Lu," Sabo said worriedly, a part of him wanting to stay in the room with his brothers and ignore the world outside the door. Ace seemed to be thinking the same thing if his clenched fists were anything to go by.

Marco was outside their door now, his knock echoing almost deafeningly in the now silent room. Sabo had to take another deep breath before he finally opened the door, forcing a smile onto his face, though he was sure it looked as strained as it felt.

"Red Hair's here, yoi," Marco announced without any hesitation. Sabo nodded, already knowing this, Luffy and Ace already close behind him as Sabo silently opened the door, all of them shuffling out of the room and following Marco down the hall.

The walk was made in complete silence, the air thick with tension and the brothers filled with so much nervous energy that they felt they were going to burst. Sabo noticed that Marco kept glancing at the brothers and he hoped he wouldn't say anything, seeing Ace noticing it as well from beside him. Luffy was too out of it to notice, which was probably a good thing.

When they reached the end of the hall Marco pushed the door open, the light pouring into the hall as the brothers watched Marco step outside.

"Ready?" Sabo asked Luffy, he and Ace grabbing the youngest hands to comfort him. Luffy merely stared out into the light, eventually nodding.

"Let's go then." Ace said softly, he and Sabo stepping outside, pulling Luffy along with them. All eyes were on them seeing as they were the center of attention, but the brothers ignored it, more focused on the main issue. Ace could already see the red hair that Shanks was known for sitting in front of Whitebeards chair. All of the commanders stood beside the giant Captain who was looking at Shanks, though his attention shifted to the brothers as they started making the slow walk towards him.

Ace could see Shanks standing now too, turning to face them, a slight look of worry on his face that made Ace wonder.

The walk seemed to take hours, but they eventually got close enough that even Sabo and Luffy could see the Commanders and two Captains. Luffy let go of their hands at this point, hiding behind the two of them, grabbing onto their shirts instead as they finished walking up to the Captains.

It was silent for a moment, no one knowing what to say, no one knowing who should speak up first. The brothers were now in front of Shanks himself, everyone staring at each other expectantly, no one knowing what to do, not wanting to be the one to break the silence, but eventually, it was Shanks that spoke first.

"We haven't met before, I'm Red-Haired Shanks, you must be Ace and Sabo, right?" He asked, smiling a little to the brothers who were effectively hiding Luffy behind them. Ace and Sabo nodded.

"That is correct, Mr. Akagami. Its a pleasure to meet you." Sabo said politely. He would have bowed, but he was busy hiding Luffy so he decided to stay standing.

"Call me Shanks. So, I hear you're the little anchors' brothers, huh?" Shanks asked, the tension still hanging in the air. Sabo nodded again, choosing not to comment on the anchor nickname, even as he felt Luffy shift behind him.

"Speaking of the anchor..." Shanks said, trailing off as he looked inbetween Ace and Sabo where he knew Luffy was hiding. Luffy gripped his brothers' shirts tighter in his fists, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried taking deep breaths, tried staying calm. It was time, he had to face Shanks, he had to break his promise.

Ace and Sabo glanced behind them with worry, noticing the look on Luffy's face. Everyone around them was watching with bated breaths, silence filling the air.

Slowly Luffy shuffled closer to Ace and Sabo, gently pushing them aside so he could peek at Shanks, opening his eyes slowly to meet the man's gaze.

"Luffy." The name came out with a breath of relief, Shanks face melting, a small smile still on his face. Luffy only managed to look Shanks in the eye for a second before they drifted to the ground.

"Luffy, I'm so glad you're ok," Shanks said in such pure joy that it shocked Luffy. Where was the disappointment? The anger? Shouldn't he be mad that Luffy was breaking their promise? That he had gotten captured in the first place? Why was he happy?

"When Garp told me you were kidnapped I was scared." Shanks continued, the words seeming to spill out before the Captain could stop them. Luffy finally managed to look back up to Shanks' eyes, noticing the tears that were filling them, only serving to shock him more.

"And then no one could find you, and we looked everywhere!" Shanks said, laughing a little, though it was weak and strained. Luffy could feel his own tears starting to form, his grip on his brothers' clothes loosening as his lip trembled.

"Luffy, I was so _worried!_ " Shanks finished, and something in Luffy broke, his tears falling in much the same way they had the day before, spilling out fast, running down his cheeks quickly as his hands fell from his brothers' clothes altogether. Before he knew it he was running, nearly tackling Shanks to the ground as he wrapped his arms around him tightly, careful not to stretch them though.

And then he cried.

He cried almost as loud as he had yesterday, gripping to Shanks like he was his lifeline, like, if he let go, the man would disappear.

"SHANKS! I was so scared, and there were mean people, and they hurt me, and they hurt Ace, and they hurt Sabo, and they gave us nasty food, and they kept giving us these weird shots, and it hurt a lot, and they made me-... made me-...!" Luffy's words trailed off into more wails, the crew's hearts all collectively breaking at the boys cries. It was the most they had gotten out of the brothers about what had happened in the facility, and even still they only had more questions than answers, but they weren't going to push it.

Ace and Sabo both watched their brother cry in Shanks' arms, noticing the Red Haired pirate was shedding a few tears of his own, and relaxed. They were safe with this pirate, that much was obvious. If Luffy was able to get this close to someone it was definitely someone they could trust. That didn't mean they weren't going to keep a close eye on him though.

This lasted for a few minutes before the two finally separated, Luffy sniffling and wiping at his eyes a few times before moving back to Ace and Sabo's side.

"Shanks," Ace spoke up suddenly, shocking everyone seeing as he hadn't spoken much at all, normally leaving it to the blonde. Sabo glanced at Ace out of the corner of his eye but trusted his brother wouldn't do anything too stupid. He had a feeling he knew what he was going to say anyway.

"Yeah?" Shanks asked, wiping his own tears away. Suddenly Ace was bowing, and Sabo did the same shortly after.

"Thank you for saving our little brothers life. He can be a handful." Ace said respectfully, slightly shocking Sabo.

"And thank you for looking for us as well," Sabo added sincerely, both of them maintaining their bow for another minute before raising again, Shanks grinning, tears forgotten.

"It was no big deal, and besides, I wasn't the only one looking," Shanks said, the mood suddenly becoming more somber while the brothers shared a confused look, Luffy back inbetween his brothers.

"Who else was looking?" Sabo asked. Over the years the brothers had convinced themselves that no one was looking for them, so now to suddenly hear that more than one person had been searching was baffling to them.

"Why, Garp of course!" Shanks said incredulously as if the brothers should have known that already. The brothers frowned.

'Jii-chan was looking for us?' Luffy asked, confused.

'If that's true how come the shitty geezer never found us?' Ace asked skeptically.

'The worlds pretty big Ace, if Garp was looking for us he must have searched the blues first, and even that takes a while.' Sabo said though he was also skeptical. Garp was a marine. If he wanted them found he shouldn't have had such issues with it.

"Speaking of, I have to tell him the good news!" Shanks said, pulling out a den den mushi.

"You didn't inform him sooner?" Whitebeard asked, and the brothers had nearly forgotten the others surrounding them, which was kind of difficult. Shanks turned to face the Captain, shaking his head.

"I wanted to make sure before I gave him any hope," Shanks said softly, beginning to dial the marines number.

"Purupurupurupuru," The brothers tensed at the ringing tone, not prepared for this at all. They didn't think anyone had been looking for them and now they were about to be faced with everyone all at once, people they hadn't seen in years, people they'd given up hope on.

"Purupurupuru-, gatcha." Luffy was gripping his brothers' hands in his own, squeezing them as tight as he could as he practically shook with nervous anxiety. Ace was biting the inside of his cheek so hard that it was nearly drawing blood, whereas Sabo was doing the same with his lip, though his was actually beginning to bleed slightly. The blonde ignored the sting, only biting down harder as they heard a familiar voice speak up.

"Red hair." Their grandfathers' voice sounded much more tired than they remembered as if he hadn't slept in weeks. It wasn't as loud or boisterous, just resigned and quiet. It was unlike anything they had heard before, and it only served to confuse them.

"Garp I've got some good news," Shanks said with a smile, looking over at the brothers who tried their best to hide their anxiety from the many onlookers.

"Oh?" Garp sounded a bit more interested now, the snail perking up and the tone becoming a bit more cheery. Shanks nodded, grinning even more if possible.

"Sure do. It seems Whitebeards found 'em." Shanks said, only to be met with silence.

"You're sure?" It sounded like Garp was trying not to get his hopes up, but there was a restrained excitement to the voice, an almost choked sound coming through like he was trying not to cry.

"A hundred percent. I'm looking at 'em with my own eyes." Shanks said happily, and Ace could see tears filling the snails' eyes. Sabo, still biting his lip, stepped forward a bit. Understanding what he wanted Shanks handed over the snail to the blonde.

"Hey, there old man," Sabo said weakly, trying his best to keep his tone light and joking, but the emotion on his voice covered it. The tears, which were now visible to Sabo and Luffy, began falling now.

"Sabo," There was such happiness and emotion in Garps voice that it nearly knocked the brothers onto the floor. They had never heard their grandfather talk that way, it was rare to hear him any other way but angry or overly boisterous.

"In the flesh," Sabo said, smiling a little as he looked at the snail.

"I told you to call me grandpa you brat!" What used to be an angry exclamation was now watery and weak compared to how it used to be, the sound of Garp crying coming over the snail.

"Are your brothers with you? Are you three safe? No ones hurt you there have they?" The questions were suddenly pouring in and Sabo had to hold the snail away as Garp's voice got louder and more urgent despite his tears.

"We're here shitty Gramps. Luffy too." Ace spoke up, shocking Sabo as he hadn't expected him to want to talk to Garp.

"Ace. And you said Luffy's with you too?" Garp's voice was filled with relief as he heard the eldest. Ace nodded, nudging Luffy a little. The youngest looked hesitant but looked back over to the snail, Sabo moving it in front of Luffy.

"Hi, Jii-chan," Luffy said quietly, and Garp's tears were falling faster now.

"Thank Kami, thank Kami you three are safe." Garp cried, silence falling as Garp composed himself.

"Where are you three? I'll head your way." Garp said after a minute, and Sabo looked up at Whitebeard, not really sure where they were.

"They're safe with us Garp, were in the Grand Line." Whitebeards loud voice boomed.

"The Grand Line huh? I can be there within a day. If I find one hair out of place on my grandsons you'll regret it Whitebeard." Garp threatened, eyes narrowing. Whitebeards laughter boomed across the deck, waving off the threat.

"No need to worry Garp, we haven't harmed the brats," Whitebeard said, and Garp nodded, frown leaving his face as he addressed the brothers.

"Don't worry, I'll be there in a day, see you soon brats," Garp said, and Ace scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Shitty Gramps, we can take care of ourselves." Ace said, but even he was relieved that Garp hadn't abandoned them, the only other man they really called family besides Dadan and the bandits. Garp's laugh rang out loud and clear through snail.

"I know you can. Stay safe." He said before the snail clicked again and went to sleep, Garp having hung up. Sabo handed the snail back to Shanks who placed it back in his cloak.

"Well, now that that's over, why don't we go have ourselves a party for your safe return?! Ne, Anchor, the guys really missed you too! Yasopp was beginning to run out of people to put to sleep with his stories about Usopp! Oh, and Ben was pretty excited to hear you were safe, Lucky Roo too!" Shanks rambled happily, gesturing with his arm. Luffy smiled slightly, remembering everyone from Shanks crew and how much he got along with all of them.

"Sorry Whitebeard, but I'm gonna steal the boys from you for a bit," Shanks said, turning to address the giant who merely laughed, waving his hand.

"That's fine red-haired brat, go have some fun," Whitebeard said, Shanks, nodding and thanking the man once more before he started ushering the brothers over to his ship where his crew was watching, all of them cheering when they saw the brothers.

"Hey, it's anchor!"

"Hey Anchor, its good to see you!"

"We've missed you Luffy!"

"Glad to have you back little guy!"

Luffy fought back the tears as he saw all the familiar faces waving and cheering at him. Ace and Sabo squeezed his hands and he looked up at them, both of them smiling encouragingly as they all made their way over to the ship.

"Its good to see them again, huh Lu?" Ace asked, Luffy nodding happily in response.

"Well, it's a good thing we're heading there then," Sabo said, smiling happily to the youngest who beamed back at him. He was still a bit timid, and he could feel his brothers' tension and nervousness, but he shouldn't be scared to see Shanks' crew, they were his friends, he knew they weren't bad people. And besides, there was gonna be a party! And Shanks knew about his devil fruit and how much he ate so he and Ace could eat as much as they wanted without having to worry!

This was going to be a good thing.


	29. The Brothers Tell All

The Whitebeard pirates watched as the three brothers followed Shanks over onto his ship, Akagamis crew cheering loudly with excitement as they began surrounding the brothers.

It was strange to see the three closed off, timid, cautious brothers smile and accept the hugs and pats on the backs from the other crew when the Whitebeards could barely sit next to them at the table without having the brothers glare at them. But as they watched they saw Luffy smiling, laughing, jumping from one person to the next, handing out hugs with ease, his brothers following with smiles of their own.

Even still, Whitebeard could see some of the tension the brothers still held as they made their rounds. He could see the wary looks Ace and Sabo were giving to those around them, could see the slight hesitance Luffy showed before he gave a hug, but that was to be expected. None of the Whitebeards knew exactly what they had been through so there was no telling what long-term effects it would have on the brothers, even to those they used to know.

The Captain would be lying though if he said he hadn't thought about making the trio apart of his crew, but he knew they had a family, people they probably wanted to see again, and after what they had been through who was he to take that away from them?

That wouldn't stop him from mentioning it to the brothers at some point though, and if they decided to join, who was he to stop them then?

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy smiled to everyone on Shanks' ship, giving their final waves as they followed the Red Haired Captain and his first mate into the depths of their ship, heading to a meeting room. The three were still tense, though they did their best to put on an air of calmness, cheerfulness.

That had been the most contact that the brothers had had in years that didn't intend to harm them. Ace and Sabo were still extremely uncomfortable because, even though they knew _of_ the Red-Haired Pirates, they didn't personally know them. They were strangers.

Luffy had no such qualms, but that didn't mean he was completely relaxed either. Even though he knew these pirates, was friends with them, he was still hesitant before touching them or letting them touch him.

Would it be the same when they returned home? Would they shy away from Garp, from Dadan and the bandits, or Makino even? If they couldn't handle these people, people they knew for sure were good, what did that mean for their family back home?

Walking into the meeting room there was only a table with chairs surrounding it in the middle of the room, a few den den mushis against a wall as well. Shanks and Ben went and sat in the chairs, the brothers following suit and sitting across from Captain and first mate. It was silent because the brothers knew what question Shanks was going to ask, and Shanks knew the brothers knew, but no one wanted to start the topic. The tenseness was already there, and Luffy couldn't lift his eyes from the table.

The three hadn't told anyone what had happened in the facility, but once people started finding out, how would they react? They had been modified to be more powerful than a normal human, so there was the chance someone would try to use them as weapons. If the marines found out would they try and use them? If some greedy pirate found out, would they try and use them? If Shanks found out... would _he_ try and use them?

Or would he show sympathy? Would he listen to the brothers' story and give them eyes of pity? Would he try and help them get better? There were too many possibilities at play and it only served to unnerve the brothers further.

"I think we all know what the elephant in the room is, so I'm just gonna ask. You three don't have to answer if you don't want to, I'll understand, but I want to help and to do that, I need to know," The brothers all looked down at Shanks' words, ready to hear them but unsure if they were ready to answer.

"What happened?" Sabo bit his lip, staring intently at the wood pattern on the table. Luffy, who was inbetween he and Ace, was shifting again, avoiding everyone's eyes while fiddling with the straw hat in his hands. Ace wasn't much better off either though, also looking at the table, glaring at it as if it had insulted him and clenching his fists tightly.

'Do you want to tell?' Sabo tapped to his brothers. Really, he and Ace both knew that it was up to Luffy because if Luffy did or didn't want to, they would listen. Ace peeked over, though not so much as to give away that they were communicating with each other.

'Luffy?' Ace asked. The two eldest felt a little bad that they were putting all the pressure on the youngest, but, really, it was his decision. Luffy remained silent for another second, his shifting becoming increasingly more noticeable as time passed.

'I'll do all of the talking. If you want to leave at any time you and Ace can go, don't worry, it's all up to you.' Sabo said, wanting Luffy to be comfortable. He didn't want his little brother to have another panic attack over this. Luffys shifting calmed a bit and he glanced at Sabo momentarily, and then Ace, both nodding to him and sending him pulses of warmth.

'Alright,' Luffy tapped hesitantly, though he didn't raise his eyes to meet Shanks'. Sabo gulped, taking a deep breath as he raised his eyes, Ace as well.

"Its a bit of a long story Mr. Akagami," Sabo said, still unsure if he should really call the Captain Shanks, despite the fact that the man himself had already told him it was ok.

"That's fine, I didn't expect it to be short, but really, just Shanks is fine, Mr. Akagami makes me feel old," Shanks said with a light-hearted pout, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Sabo swallowed again, glancing at Ben who had been silent the entire time, allowing Shanks to do all the talking.

"Well... I guess it started the day we were taken then..." Sabo said softly. He didn't know if he was even ready to talk about this, but he had already started, so now there was no going back.

"We were just finished sparring for the day," Sabo started, the three of them remembering that day clearly. Sabo had to clear his throat before continuing, the feeling of it closing up making him pause.

"We were laying there and then, out of nowhere, these three guys came and started attacking us. We had Luffy try and run to Dadans to get help but he was caught before he could. He was able to scream though, and I'm sure she heard it too because it was loud enough for the whole forest to hear." Sabo said with a slight smile, remembering how crazy the animals around them had went, all running the opposite way they had heard Luffys shout from.

"And then they were tying us up and taking us to some other ship," Sabo said his smile dropping. Luffy began fidgeting again and Ace was clenching and unclenching his fists, his anger noticeable to Luffy who tried not to let it influence him. Shanks and Ben were listening to the story in silence, frowns on both of their faces as they did, but giving no input.

"I don't know how long we were on it, maybe a month, but we were kept in a small room, most likely a closet, and fed enough that we didn't die. It was obvious enough they needed us alive, we just didn't know why. Plenty of people had plenty of reason for wanting us after all." Sabo said with a nonchalant shrug, trying to play off how nervous he was. His stomach was twisting almost painfully and he was beginning to feel slightly light-headed at the thought of what came next in the story. Shanks and Ben's expressions hadn't changed much, the only noticeable difference being that their frowns were deeper than before, giving way to their obvious dislike of what had happened to them.

"And then, we reached whatever island it was that they were taking us to. We were taken off the ship and immediately given to a different man who seemed... excited to have us." Sabo said, trying to think of a good word to use. He suppressed a shiver at the thought of Haru, trying his best to ignore the heavy feeling in his chest or the nauseous rumble in his stomach. Poor Luffy was taking it the worst, which Sabo understood. He was beginning to tremble again, much more noticeable then his shifting had been, and he was gripping onto his hat so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. To combat this Sabo sent slightly stronger feelings of warmth than normal, hoping to calm the terrified boy. He was sure Ace was too because soon enough Luffys trembling died down and his grip loosened a bit.

"His name was Har-" Sabo didn't expect the name to be that hard to get out in that moment, but the name died on his tongue unexpectedly and he had to clear his throat and try again.

"Excuse me, his name was Haru," Sabo said, trying to play off the hiccup. He took a second to recollect his thoughts and continued.

"He took us to a building on the island, what we call the facility," Sabo said, hissing the word facility with as much venom as possible.

"The best way to describe it is hell on Earth. We were put in cells and given numbers," Sabo said, showing his wrist that held the number he had become known for back in that place. He could see Luffy grab his own wrist, covering the number with his palm, while Ace began glaring at his own number that was showing face up at him.

"And that was where we were left for our first day. We were fed but it wasn't even something I think could be categorized under the definition of the food. Garbage would be more like it. By the second day, though, we were figuring out just what our new home was. Every day they would take children, all within the same age range as us, and do tests or experiments on them. They were especially interested in devil fruits and Luffy quickly became one of their favorites. We were told by another child that the life expectancy of children in the facility wasn't long, barely a month if lucky, but we somehow managed to survive with everything they put us through." Sabo growled out, glaring at the wood now, not able to meet Shanks' eyes anymore. He was surprised he had been able to say this much though, he was expecting it to be much harder and, sure, he hadn't even gotten to the hardest part yet, but if it went this way the entire time, he wouldn't complain.

"Whatever they could think of, they tried. Want a human that can live through a life-threatening virus? Well, they'd inject a child with it and see if they could save them. Spoiler alert, they couldn't. They never could. Want to know how a person ticks? Lets cut a kid up and find out!" Sabo knew he was getting a bit too graphic, but he couldn't help it, after all, he had been one of those kids. Ace had been one of those kids. _Luffy_ had been one of those kids. Taking a deep breath to calm himself he continued.

"After our first year in there, we were becoming known throughout the facility. We were the longest surviving children in there, having watched every child in there come and go, over and over again. We had a bit of luck though, finally, when we met Emily. She was actually nice and tried to help us in any way that she could. She would give us candy or fruit when she could and chalk to use so we wouldn't get bored when we had to sit in our cell. She even gave us a map of the facility and wanted to help us, as well as all the other children, escape." Sabo said with a small smile, Luffy and Ace smiling slightly as well at the thought of the kind woman that had helped them.

"But of course our luck ran out quickly. The doctors decided to do a test on Luffy, see what Seastone in a liquid form would do to a devil fruit user. They injected it and sent us back to our cell where Luffy only started to get worse and worse as time passed. We didn't know what to do but soon Emily came with something that would help him. It was a new test the doctors were going to try, a serum that would completely flush the seastone from Luffy's system. She gave it to us, we injected it, and it worked, but only seconds after Haru came and shot Emily." Sabo said, hatred creeping into his voice at the thought of Haru killing the one person the brothers had liked in that place. Shank and Ben's faces, which previously had smiles when Sabo described Emily, had turned to frowns at the thought of the doctors' tests, and then anger at the mention of Emily's death.

"After that another year passed and we knew that the doctors were working on something, construction. Turns out it was a training room where we were forced to spar with other children. We tried to avoid the fighting but were punished for it, so instead, we fought. The doctors promised any kid that beat us freedom, but they never made it possible for them to win. Shortly after, they began doing a new kind of testing."

"They were beginning to enhance a person's natural abilities, for example, speed. They made it possible for a child to move so fast they were invisible. Another was healing where a child's regenerative abilities were instantaneous." Sabo said, hesitating now. Should he mention their abilities too? They would lose the upper hand if the Red Hair Pirates turned on them, but he didn't think that they would.

'Should I tell him?' Sabo asked. Ace looked like he wanted to say an immediate no, but he held off, not quite sure himself.

'Shanks is safe.' Luffy's simple and quick response was enough for Sabo, because if Luffy was able to be that sure about it then it was ok.

"And then... they enhanced our abilities too. They messed with my ears, giving me much stronger hearing to where I can hear things happening on deck right now, they gave Ace much better vision to the point that he can see in the dark, and they gave Luffy a much better sense of smell to the point that he doesn't even need to see a person to know who it is." Sabo explained, noticing the looks of shock on Shanks and Ben's faces.

"It was hard to adjust to it at first, everything was too loud to me for a while, even whispers and Ace got eye strain to the point that he would get horrible migraines. Luffy would get headaches from the strong smell of antiseptic in the lab too and it would burn his nose and give him headaches too. We were forced to fight more and more. Another year passed, I think it was our third year there, and they ended up giving Ace a devil fruit, the Mera-Mera no mi, allowing him to create and control fire. We were already their favorite brothers, but now they loved us even more now that two of us had devil fruits."

"They tested on us more, did more devil fruit based tests on Ace and Luffy, and continued on with their experiments. At one point they messed up. They always did multiple tests on us at once, but apparently they did one too many tests on me or something just didn't add right, because I started to.. well... die. At one point, I _was_ dead. They had killed me, but after a few minutes they managed to get me back and I survived. They kept me overnight and sent me back to the cell, continuing tests as if it never happened."

"And then, year four, the worst happened. We were in our cells like normal when there was suddenly a loud explosion. No one knew what had happened, and then suddenly there was screaming and a fast-spreading fire. It crept through the hall and into cells until it finally reached ours. I have to admit, I definitely thought we were going to die, the fire was huge and it wasn't going out anytime soon, but then Ace did... whatever he did and we were fine." Sabo said, realizing he had never really gotten an exact explanation on what it was Ace had done to save them.

"Even though he had been wearing seastone Ace had managed to keep the fire from hurting us and we were safe. The same didn't go for everyone else though, because when they finally managed to get rid of the fire we found out that all the other children, and even some doctors, had died. They didn't know how we survived but they didn't question it much. It took them some time but they managed to fully restock the facility with all new children and repair what had been lost in the explosion that had started the fire. They continued on like it had never happened."

"They continued doing tests on us, because when _didn't_ they, and the next tragedy came. One specific test they wanted to do on Luffy involved poison. They gave him a myriad of different poisons with the intent of creating an antidote to cure all poison. At least, that's what I think the point of it was, who knows. Long story short, they weren't able to stop the poison's effects and they managed to kill Luffy as well. They tried bringing him back, but they gave up after a few minutes and pronounced him dead. As they started cleaning up though Luffy came back and they did the same they had done to me, keeping him overnight to make sure he was really ok."

"I think... I think the worst year though was year 6..." Sabo said, voice growing soft again at the thought of that horrible year. He could already see Luffy becoming more and more on edge at the mention of that year which made Sabo hesitate, wondering if he should talk about it at all.

'Should I stop Lu?' He asked, not wanting to say anything Luffy didn't want Shanks to know. Luffys frown deepened and he shook his head, standing up. Ace stood as well, having a feeling he knew what Luffy was doing, and followed as the youngest left his room, everyone watching them leave.

"As I said, it was a bad year," Sabo said softly, sighing as he leaned forward on the table, clasping his hands together as he got ready to tell the rest of the story.

"Things were normal in the beginning, we were tested on like normal and fought like normal, even learning haki in the process. One day, though, the doctors decided they wanted to run a new series of tests that they called the 'Pure Souls' tests. It was a three-part series. It started off with the doctors taking Luffy and giving him something that made him see someone's memories whenever he looked them in the eyes. He couldn't control it and no matter who the person, if he so much as glanced at their eyes, he would see their entire history. They also gave him the ability to feel peoples emotions. He still can't quite control that one and if someones feeling a particularly strong emotion it can influence Luffy's own emotions. For example, if someone gets really angry, chances are, Luffy will get inexplicably angry as well, even if he was actually quite cheerful moments ago."

"The next test they ran gave him the ability to see colors around people. In simple terms, they gave him the ability to see peoples souls. The lighter the blue, the better the person was, but the darker the color got, the worse the person was. If a person had a completely black color..." Sabo trailed off, shivering at the thought of Haru once more.

"Anyways, after that test was the final test, the worse one too. This one allowed Luffy to create, in the doctors' words, bridges to other people. The problem was that, in doing this, there was a possibility of the person that Luffy was trying to bridge to dying. The doctors forced him to try bridging to several children, all of them dying in the process. And then they sent Ace in, and when Luffy tried bridging to him it worked, creating a wave in Luffys words. They had him do the same to me, as well as a few more children after that, but they all died."

"It was deduced that Luffy wouldn't be able to create waves with people he didn't know well, and if he tried then they would die. The waves that Luffy created allow him to know where Ace and I are. We don't know if there's a limit on how far away he can be and still see it seeing as we haven't been apart since then. He also has the ability to see what state of health we're in from the wave. The more transparent they are, the closer to death we are, the more opaque, the healthier we are."

"After these tests though, Luffy became much more withdrawn. He felt responsible for killing all those children, no matter how many times Ace and I told him otherwise. It was a struggle to keep his hopes up that we would escape in that last year, and finally, the day came when we were escaping. We had been planning it our entire time there. We had created a silent language to use so that we could discuss things without anyone knowing, and its worked pretty well so far. We still use it a lot by making a series of tapping noises to create words and sentences. While planning Ace and I were hoping to get all of us out, but mainly our goal was getting Luffy out, not that we told him that. It worked though, we got him out and he found the Whitebeards who came and got us and all the other children out." Sabo said, concluding the very lengthy story.

Shanks and Ben sat back in their chairs, having a lot to take in. Ace and Luffy reappeared then, hesitantly entering the room, to which Sabo nodded.

"I just finished," Sabo said, leaning back in his chair as well. It was an odd feeling, finally telling someone else the entire story of the past seven years of hell. Maybe he was supposed to feel like a weight had been lifted off his chest, or maybe just a general feeling of relief, after all, isn't that what authors normally put in their books after a character tells someone something that's been troubling?

Well, he felt none of that. The heaviness was still there, and there was no relief to make him feel any better. The memories still haunted him and he was sure they would continue to for many more years to come, most likely to his death. The heavy feeling would never go away, he knew that now, it may become easier to live with, but that feeling would always be there, no matter how much he ran from it.

"What you three went through was more than anyone needs in an entire lifetime," Ben said with a sigh and a shake of his head. The trio didn't respond to that, merely staring at the table.

"I wish I had found you three so I could have beat those damn bastards to a pulp," Shanks said with a pout, Ben rolling his eyes at his Captains antics.

"I wish I had been awake to do the same thing," Ace muttered, now pouting as well. This time Sabo rolled his eyes, though a smile did form at the now light-hearted mood that was beginning to take form. Shanks sighed again, sitting up once more.

"That was a hell of a story and I'm glad you three are ok. If any of you need anything don't hesitate to ask, I mean it." Shanks said, the brothers all nodding, sure that, if necessary, they would take the man up on that offer.

"Now that that's settled... how about a party?! You three need to fatten up and a party is the best way to do that! Ben, tell the chefs to get started on the cooking, and tell them we've got some bottomless pits that need filling too!" Shanks ordered with a smile, turning the entire mood around. Ben chuckled lightly, shaking his head as he stood.

"Aye aye, Captain," Ben said as he left the room. Shanks turned to the brothers with smiles.

"Come on boys, let's go start the celebration!"


	30. The Illusion of Peace

It was strange, after seven years of torture and pain, the brothers always on edge, always ready for the next person they met to hurt them in new ways. For them to suddenly be able to be at peace was strange.

Or, at least, a semblance of peace that is.

The Red Haired Pirates threw a party that the brothers had never experienced before. They may have been the guests of honor, the whole reason for the party, but no one gave them special attention, no one made them uncomfortable, no one forced them into the spotlight.

It was nice. It was a small blessing that the three never got to experience anymore. They were always the center of everyone's attention, for the past seven years, and now, they could leave and hide out in their room and no one would bat an eye. No one would demand they come back, they would accept that they were gone and that would be that.

Food was brought out about an hour after the festivities started. Now there was food to go with the many drinks being passed around and the music playing felt much cheerier now that they were filling their stomachs with delicious food. The brothers ate with no qualms to those watching for once, which was also a blessing they hadn't had in years.

Back on the Whitebeards ship, they were too scared to even dare ask for seconds, much less eat without the manners they had been forced to learn. Food was shoveled into Ace and Luffy's mouths faster than it was appearing on their plates, and while Sabo was eating much slower, and with utensils, it was still much faster than a normal person should safely consume food.

They ate seconds and thirds, and though that's where Sabo stopped, it's not where his brothers stopped. They continued on to eat fourths, fifths, sixths even! By their ninth plate, they finally finished, much more satisfied then they had been in a long while. The pirates around them cheered, some collecting bets that they had made while they had been eating.

With food out of the way, the party continued on with singing, dancing, and overall chatter. Luffy seemed to relax around everyone more, going and joining in on the singing, talking to someone named Yasopp cheerfully, listening to the man talk about his son, and eventually dozing off during one of these stories.

Ace and Sabo watched him closely throughout this, ready to come to his aide at any moment should he need it, but they knew that wouldn't be necessary, not while they were with the Red-Haired Pirates. It was strange, to feel that peace, that sense of security. They hadn't ever really felt that before, not even back in the forest, because you never knew when an angry pirate from the Grey Terminal would come running after them, but here with these complete strangers, at least in Ace and Sabo's case, they felt safe.

After the talk they'd had with Shanks and Benn, the two oldest brothers had been a bit more on edge around the Captain and first mate, especially after Luffy told them they were both angry. Despite the youngest telling them repeatedly that they weren't angry at them, but at the facility, the brothers couldn't help but feel that anger would suddenly be directed at them and they would have to run, to hide.

It never happened though, and it seemed that the two men truly wanted the brothers to be safe and happy. Luffy told them that they were still angry, despite their outward appearances saying otherwise, but it was becoming easier for Sabo and Ace to relax around them. To feel _safe_.

That definitely was not a feeling they thought they would be feeling in a long time. Maybe it was because Luffy so obviously trusted them, maybe it was because of their history with Luffy, maybe it was because they had always heard such high praise of them, but whatever it was it worked.

So when they saw Luffy fall asleep they found that they felt no need to rush to his side, no need to carry him away, no need to hide their brothers' weakness from these pirates. They did go over and pick him up though, taking Shanks' directions to a room inside the ship that they could use for the night. They didn't feel the need to look out for any incoming pirates that might be roaming the halls instead of being out on deck partying, they merely made their way to their room and placed Luffy on one of the two beds, Ace crawling in beside the youngest while Sabo moved to the other empty bed, laying down and staring at the ceiling.

"Ace?" Sabo asked softly, not wanting to wake Luffy.

"Hm?" Ace hummed, his eyes closed but still awake. Sabo paused, glancing at Ace out of the corner of his eye, smiling a bit.

"You think we could get this feeling back again?" Sabo asked, liking how secure he felt here, how nice the feelings were to experience, a harsh contrast to the one he'd experienced most of his life. Now Ace was quiet a minute, most likely thinking through his thoughts.

"Don't know, depends on tomorrow I guess..." Ace muttered, and Sabo frowned a bit at the reminder of tomorrow. Tomorrow Garp would be coming, and that was probably going to be harder than when they saw Shanks because Garp was their Grandfather, he was family, someone they all knew and were, for the most part, close with. Seeing a stranger you knew about was a cake walk compared to seeing a family member you had given up hope on ever seeing again.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, that was for sure.

"Guess you're right... Night Ace." Sabo said, turning to lay on his side, getting comfortable and closing his eyes.

"Night Sabo." Ace mumbled back, also shifting a bit to get more comfortable on the tiny bed he was sharing with Luffy.

The two fell into a peaceful sleep within minutes.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Wakey Wakey, rise and shine!" Shanks' voice drifted through the door and into the brothers' room, all of them groaning at being woken up. The Captain was also knocking loudly on their door, and it didn't seem like he was going to stop anytime soon. Groaning Sabo stood up from his bed, stretching and shuffling towards the door begrudgingly.

"Yeah yeah, shut up you red-haired bastard..." Aces mumble wasn't loud enough for the Captain outside to hear but it made Sabo smile none the less as he reached the door, only pausing when he realized something.

Normally they were all pretty light sleepers, Sabo especially, and the second anyone started coming toward their room he was normally wide awake. The blonde decided to shrug this off though, deciding to chalk it up to a mixture of feeling safe here and being completely exhausted from both the facility and making sure they were acceptable enough for the Whitebeards.

"G'Morning Shanks," Sabo said with a yawn. The red-haired man was grinning widely to him, finally ceasing his knocking.

"Ah, finally, good morning Sabo! Breakfast is ready if you three want to head to the galley, I'm sure Luffy remembers where it is if you want a few minutes." Shanks said, peeking behind him and seeing the still very much asleep Ace and Luffy. Sabo smiled a little, nodding.

"I think that's a good idea. We'll see you in a few, thanks for waking us up." Sabo said, Shanks, nodding and walking away, waving goodbye as he did. Closing the door Sabo sighed, turning to face Ace and Luffy.

"Alright you two, come on," Sabo said, walking over to them and shaking them, trying to get them up as best he could. They both groaned and swatted at his hands causing him to roll his eyes.

"Its breakfast time, and if you two don't get up soon who knows if there'll be enough food left for you." He said, grinning as he knew it would work. Within seconds the two shot out of bed, Luffy already on the other side of the room and flinging the door open.

"Oi, Lu, wait up!" Ace called as he chased after the youngest. Sabo chuckled, following at a much slower pace, not worried about getting lost. If he did have trouble all he would have to do was listen for Ace and Luffy's bickering as they fought over food.

It was still odd to Sabo to feel so... normal. It was such a sudden change from the tenseness and fear of the previous morning, but Sabo couldn't find it in himself to complain about it. After all they had been through, they deserved at least this much because he knew by the time his brothers really started to wake up they would remember what was happening today. They would remember that Garp, their grandfather that they had given up hope on ever seeing again, was going to come and see them sometime today. When, they didn't know, but that would only make them more unnerved.

Reaching the galley Sabo was met with food flying every which way, Ace and Luffy the center of it all as they scarfed down as much as they could.

"Oh, hey Famo!" Ace greeted, waving to Sabo as he spoke with his mouth full. Sabo shook his head, sitting beside Luffy.

"Swallow before you talk Ace, we've been over this," Sabo said, beginning to eat his own food. Ace merely shrugged, saying nothing more as he continued eating as well. Shanks joined them soon after bringing a plate of his own food over.

"Your appetite is as big as ever, huh Luffy?" Shanks asked as he watched the youngest finish his fourth plate. Luffy beamed at him, cheeks puffed out from all the food in his mouth and nodded.

"Mm!" Shanks laughed at that, turning to Sabo now.

"So, are you ready for today?" Shanks asked with a small smile. Sabo froze for a second, swallowing his bite slowly as he stared at his plate, thinking about how he should respond. Sabo assumed Ace and Luffy hadn't been listening because they continued eating as if the mention of Garp coming hadn't been brought up. He did notice that Luffy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, glancing at Sabo as he ate. He had probably picked up on his suddenly nervous feelings. Taking a deep breath Sabo calmed himself, sending a smile to Luffy which the boy accepted, returning to his food.

"As ready as I think we could be." Sabo decided to say eventually. Shanks nodded in understanding.

"Benn said he should be here around noon, but the thing is, we have to leave soon, probably after breakfast. The marines were already antsy when they found out I was heading towards Whitebeard and now that we've spent this much time near them they're surely going to be sending someone to check it out if we don't go soon so its the best we can do." Shanks said, and this time Sabo stopped eating, realizing quickly exactly what all of this meant.

"So we'll have to continue staying with the Whitebeard pirates until Garp shows up is what you're saying, correct?" Sabo asked, not meeting the man's eyes. Apparently Ace and Luffy were listening now because they froze, meals forgotten as they looked over with wide eyes.

"Afraid so, but don't worry, the Whitebeards aren't bad people, they'll keep you safe until Garp shows up," Shanks said, trying to be reassuring, but it didn't have the effect intended on the brothers. Even though the Whitebeards had saved the brothers and kept them safe and as comfortable as possible the trio was still uneasy around them.

If the pirates found out about what happened in the facility they surely wouldn't be so accommodating.

"Besides, it'll only be a few hours until Garp gets here, don't worry," Shanks said, but that didn't help calm the brothers either.

Breakfast continued in almost a tense silence. The brothers were internally freaking out about having to stay with the Whitebeards again while Shanks didn't know what else to say to calm them down. After they all finished Shanks was told by the navigator that everything was set for them to leave and that's when the brothers felt even more uneasy.

Shanks escorted them back to the Whitebeards ship where they were once again the center of attention, all eyes on them, and any feelings of safety and security went away as they left the Red Haired Pirates' ship.

"Welcome back." Whitebeard greeted, smiling to the group as they stepped onto the deck. Shanks smiled back, nodding to the man before turning to face the brothers.

"Alright you three, as I said before, Garp'll be here soon so just relax for a bit. Everything will be just fine, I'm sure of it, but just in case, here." Shanks said, pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to Sabo. It was two pieces of paper, one with a number on it, most likely the man's den den mushi number, and another completely blank paper.

"What is it?" Ace asked, peering over Sabo's shoulder to see it.

"That ones my den den number, but this is my vivre card. Its a paper tied to the owners' life force, so if you hold it it'll move in the direction of that person, see?" Shanks explained, opening Sabo's palm and placing the paper in his palm, all of them watching as it crept closer to the man.

"Woah~! So it's a mystery paper!" Luffy said with a toothy grin, Shanks laughing loudly in response.

"You got that right anchor! Anyways, I gave you enough to rip it into three so each of you can have one. If you ever need to find me, that paper'll lead you right to me." Shanks said, still smiling. Luffy was now pouting at the mention of Shanks' favorite nickname for him while Ace and Sabo were nodding in understanding.

"Thank you, Shanks, for everything," Sabo said, bowing to the man, Ace following suit and doing the same. Shanks waved, still smiling.

"Ah, it was nothing! Stay safe you three! And Anchor," Shanks said, turning to address the still pouting boy. Luffy perked up to show he was listening, but he continued to pout as well.

"I'm still holding you to our promise, yeah?" The red-haired man asked, shocking the pout right off of Luffys face. The boy hadn't been expecting that, he had thought that their promise was dead now, thought that Shanks wouldn't want him to keep the infamous hat anymore, but hearing those words confirmed for the boy that it was still strong.

Luffy beamed to Shanks, nodding.

"Mm!"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The brothers finally stopped waving when they couldn't even see Shanks' ship on the horizon anymore. They had been trying to ignore the fact that they were once again stuck with the Whitebeards, but now they were going to be forced to face that fact seeing as they couldn't stall any longer with watching after Shanks' ship.

'Why don't we just make a break for it back to the room?' Ace asked while Sabo suppressed a sigh.

'Because that might cause them to come after us, which we definitely don't want.' Sabo replied. Now that their only sense of security was gone the brothers had reverted back to their timid and antsy state. Their smiles were gone, replaced with tense frowns, and they were back to speaking their silent language almost exclusively. No one had approached them yet, but it was only a matter of time until someone did.

'So we're supposed to just stand here?' Ace asked. Luffy was shifting nervously inbetween the two, wanting to be back with Shanks but knowing that wasn't going to happen.

'Of course not, but right now-' Sabo stopped his tapping when he noticed someone heading their way, stealing his nerves as he turned away from the sea to address the person, his brothers doing the same.

"Welcome back, we got word not too long that Garp would be here in about an hour, yoi." The brothers' stomachs dropped at the news given to them by the Whitebeards first commander. Wasn't Garp supposed to get here at noon? Another three hours from now?

"He's made good time then, huh?" Sabo asked weakly, trying to hide the nervousness that he felt. Marco nodded in response, glancing at the ocean behind them.

"According to him, he hit good waters which reduced his travel time," Marco said, turning to watch the brothers again. Sabo nodded, swallowing.

"That's... good news then. Thank you, Commander." Sabo said, forcing himself to give the man a pleasant smile. Marco seemed to notice that the smile was a little off, but to Sabo's relief he said nothing, merely nodding and turning to walk away.

'Now can we go to our room?' Ace asked, any shred of a good mood that he had had that day gone completely. Sabo only nodded, the three turning to leave the deck, heading to where they knew their room was.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"It's like a complete turn-a-round!" Thatch said in slight amazement as he and the other Commanders along with Whitebeard watched the brothers slink off to their room, not looking at anybody.

"They looked so happy back on the Red Force, now they looked like they're scared we're gonna bite their heads off," Haruta said, confused as to the sudden personality change in the trio.

"They also knew Shanks though, yoi," Marco said as he reached the group.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Rakuyou asked.

"They know the Akagami brat so they were more comfortable around him, but here they don't know us at all," Whitebeard explained though some were still confused.

"So they're scared of us?" Blenheim asked.

"Most likely it's not that they're scared of us as people, but more of what we could do. We have no idea what happened to them in the facility, but it definitely wasn't anything good and that may have influenced the way they see strangers, yoi." Marco elaborated, everyone slowly beginning to understand more and more.

"Poor kids," Vista said as he looked over to the brothers who were disappearing into the depths of the Moby.

"All we can do right now is try to make them as comfortable as possible until Garp gets here," Whitebeard said with a sigh, wishing he could do more to help the boys, but he didn't want to force them to do anything that would make them more uncomfortable than was necessary.

"I don't think that'll be an issue, they're probably going to camp out in their room 'till he gets here." Fossa said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"And that's ok. If they want to stay there then we won't force them to come out." Whitebeard said softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> I know this chapter wasn't the most exciting, but it was more of a transition between the brothers seeing Shanks and Garp's arrival. Next chapter, Garp will definitely be making an appearance so you all don't have to worry about waiting too long for him. I also wanted to show the difference in the way the brothers both acted and felt with Shanks compared to how it is when they're with the Whitebeards. Even though Ace and Sabo don't know Shanks personally, they grew up hearing praises of the man from Luffy, and it also helps that Luffy had no qualms when it came to Shanks after seeing him again. If Luffy hadn't been so trusting of Shanks then the interaction would have gone completely different, but with Luffy reassuring them that he was a safe, good man, they were able to get over their suspicion and anxieties.
> 
> Also, speaking of Shanks, I know his reaction last chapter to the brothers' story didn't seem all that Shanks like, but there was also reason for that. I mentioned this chapter that Luffy could feel that Shanks was angry despite his happy-go-lucky appearance, and it was the same when they were telling him about the facility. I know Shanks is portrayed as a childish, yet serious when needed, man, much like canon Luffy, so when he heard the story, I feel like he would have been able to pick up on the fact that, around the brothers, he needed to remain calm and try to keep the mood light. Showing the brothers his anger would have done nothing more then cause them to revert further into themselves, and he and Benn could both see that the brothers had issues telling them about the facility, so they decided it would be best to keep their anger to themselves.
> 
> With that said, now that Shanks is away from the brothers, hes no doubt ranting and raving to Benn about everything they heard and swearing vengeance.
> 
> Anyways, with that explanation out of the way, as I said before, the next chapter will be Garp's arrival, and with it we'll be getting a lot of answers to questions you've all probably had since the beginning, so get excited! Next chapter is where we'll be seeing more of the plot progression take place, and with it, more excitement.


	31. Like Lambs to the Slaughter

It was silent in the brothers' room. No one was speaking and no one was going to. They were all scattered around the room, Luffy on the bed staring at the ceiling, Ace laying against the door, head in his knees, and Sabo was sitting at the desk, holding his head in his hands.

The air was thick with tension but none of them had it in them to try and get rid of it. They just wanted to sit in silence and worry, wanted to overthink all the outcomes of seeing their grandfather.

Whatever happened today would be the deciding factor in the brothers' lives. If Garp decided he wanted nothing to do with them? They would have to flee, probably go after Shanks and hope he would help like he had said he would. If Garp accepted them? They might end up returning home, see Makino and Dadan and the bandits again. If Garp took them and forced them to become marines that instant? Needless to say, they would do the same thing as in option one.

There were so many outcomes and possibilities swirling in their heads that they couldn't even focus on worrying about just one of them. Ever since they had gotten out of the facility their lives had been filled with more stress and nervousness then ever before. The whole point of escaping the facility was supposed to be for them to finally be free. Free of these bad feelings, free of people trying to control them, free of anyone who could hurt them, but at the moment, they were basically trapped in a glorified facility where the Pirates were the Doctors instead.

Time must have passed much quicker than the brothers had realized because in no time at all Sabo could hear shouts on the deck of someone spotting Garp's ship. He knew that this meant someone would be sent to get them and that he should tell Ace and Luffy, but at the moment, all he wanted to do was curl up in the bed and sleep for a year.

"He's here." Sabo eventually managed to say, his voice coming out in a soft whisper of regret. Ace and Luffy heard it none-the-less and soon Ace was standing and moving away from the door while Luffy shuffled off the bed, fidgeting with his straw hat.

Sabo made his way to the door, barely making it on time to open it after the first knock sounded, coming face to face with Izo. He couldn't say that he expected the 16th division commander to be the one there. Normally it was Marco, and if not him it was Thatch, but instead there was Izo, smiling and waving to the three.

"I came to tell you that Garp is here," Izo said calmly. Sabo nodded, putting on at least a tiny smile.

"Thank you, Commander. We should probably be on our way then." Sabo said. Izo began walking away, expecting the brothers to follow, and they did, filing out of their rooms and heading down the hall to the deck.

It was a strange sense of Deja Vu for them and Sabo was beginning to think that this hallway would always be filled with their feelings of discomfort because every time they walked down it they were on their way to do something that terrified the brothers to no end.

Reaching the end of the hall the brothers shared a glance, steeling themselves for any of the many outcomes they had come up with in their head to happen outside the door.

'We can't run now... can we?' Ace asked, eyeing the door to the deck wearily as Izo moved closer and closer to opening it.

'I wish.' Sabo responded, holding back a snort. Luffy shifted nervously, gaining their attention.

'Grandpa'll still like us right?' Luffy asked. He hadn't said anything, but that was the scariest part to Luffy, that his Grandfather wouldn't like them anymore because of what happened. Sabo and Ace didn't know what to say. On one hand, they didn't want to give the boy false hope if Garp ended up hating them, but on the other, they didn't want him to walk out there thinking that his grandfather was going to hate him.

'We just have to go and find out Lu. I'm sure everything will work out in the end.' Sabo decided on saying eventually, Ace sighing in relief that Sabo had handled it. Luffy nodded mutely, looking to the ground and grabbing his brothers' hands, holding them tightly and relishing in the warm feelings coming from Ace and Sabo. He knew they were nervous, he didn't need his powers to know that, but he was grateful that they were still trying to keep him happy. It may be a little selfish of the youngest, but it made him happy.

Izo opened the door, oblivious to the silent conversation happening behind him, and they were finally out on the deck. Ace scanned it quickly, using his superior vision to scan even the farthest end of the deck, making sure there was no threat at all that could harm him or his brothers. He continued scanning until his eyes landed on Garp, taking in the appearance of the man he knew from long ago.

He looked different, his black hair fading to a grey now, though there was still a bit of black there, and he had more wrinkles then he remembered, or maybe he just never noticed them in the first place. For the most part, the man looked the same, still big and burly, still an intimidating figure, but there was something about him that seemed more... subdued then he remembered. His big smile was gone, the childish air he normally held was gone, and he looked much more depressed then Ace ever remembered seeing him before.

Ace hadn't realized he'd been staring at the man for so long until they were right up to him, all three of them gazing at their grandfather while he did the same back.

Luffy still hadn't looked up yet, hadn't seen his grandfather. He was too scared, scared that if he did he would just see hatred in the man's eyes, and Luffy didn't know what was worse, Shanks taking back his hat or seeing hate in Garp's eyes. He tried reaching out, tried to tell what the man was feeling, and all he got was an overall feeling of nervousness which confused Luffy. He didn't know that the man could even feel nervous. He was always so brave and strong, what did he have to fear? He could also feel an underlying tone of happiness and Luffy took that as a good sign.

"Hey there Garp." Sabo managed to say weakly, using his free hand to wave a bit. The blonde could barely keep his legs from shaking as he stood in front of the man who once chased him and his brothers through the jungle for hours on end in the name of 'training'.

It was like a dam broke at those words though. Tears gathered in Garp's eyes and were falling just as quickly as he charged forward, the brothers too shocked to move. In seconds they were engulfed in his arms, all squished together tightly, painfully.

"I'm so glad you boys are ok!" The marine cried out loudly, the brothers quickly becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

"Geez you shitty gramps, you've gotten soft haven't ya?" Ace asked weakly, prompting Garp to nearly drop the three.

"I told you to call me Grandpa you ungrateful brats!" Garp roared, remembering quickly that Sabo had called him Garp. The two oldest flinched, remembering what usually followed that exclamation. Preparing themselves for the painful hits they were surprised when they never came. Peaking open their previously closed eyes they saw that Garp had been stopped by Luffy, the youngest having run into their grandfathers' arms and hugging him, and though he made no sound it was obvious by the slight shaking that the boy was crying.

"Jii-jii~! I'm sorry we got caught, and we were taken, and they hurt us, and I'm sorry!" It was almost like when they saw Shanks all over again. Garp looked shocked for a minute before he was crying again, hugging Luffy tightly in his arms. No one had the heart to say anything within this moment. Ace and Sabo watched on silently, neither one wanting to interrupt the two. It looked like they both needed this.

After a few moments, the two finally began to calm down and Garp set Luffy back down.

"Where have you boys been?" Garp asked, his voice rougher than it normally was, but they ignored that, Ace and Sabo glancing at each other while Luffy wiped away his remaining tears.

"Ah, well, why don't we go talk about that somewhere a bit more... private?" Sabo suggested nervously, glancing at the many eyes on them, all waiting for them to spill about what had happened to them in the facility. Understanding that this was an important topic Garp's expression became much more serious and he nodded.

"We can go to my ship then and discuss things there." Garp offered, the three nodding in agreement.

"Whitebeard, we'll be back shortly. Thank you for taking care of my brats." Garp said, addressing Whitebeard now. The giant Captain nodded to the marine, smiling.

"It was no problem, Garp." He said. With that the brothers were following their grandfather onto a marine ship, the marines saluting at once. Garp gave some orders, one of them being for no one to disturb them, and they began making their way to a private room, much like they had done on Shanks' ship.

Once they were settled and Sabo was sure there was no one lingering close enough to the room for them to listen in on them, he launched into another retelling of their long seven years apart, feeling no qualms about hiding anything that happened from Garp. That didn't mean he was happy telling it, but he didn't skirt around the truth when it came to their abilities and weaknesses. He talked about Aces devil fruit, his and Luffy's slight resistance to seastone and water in general, all of their heightened senses, their fear of doctors and nurses, Luffy's abilities. All of it.

Luffy had left like last time as Sabo told Garp about what happened when Luffy got his abilities and the blonde could see the fiery hatred in Garp's eyes, his fists clenching painfully tight as he tried to keep the anger from coming out.

By the time he finished Sabo felt exhausted, having relieved his entire time in the facility for the second time in two days. It wasn't pleasant to think about any day and when he had to relive every moment it was worse.

When he was finished, Ace and Luffy sitting beside him once more, they waited for Garp's response, wondering how the man would react.

"I'm sorry..." He said, his face morphing from anger to shame, shocking the brothers even more. That was probably the last emotion they expected their grandfather to show.

"Sorry? For what?" Ace asked, leaning forward slightly in his chair, curiosity taking hold of him. Luffy shifted uncomfortably as he felt the shame Garp was feeling almost double, making him feel shameful himself even though he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"That place, the facility, its... it's a government-run building," Garp said softly. The brothers' eyes widened in shock, even Luffys. He knew enough to know what that meant.

"W-what?! Y-you mean-..." Sabo couldn't form a coherent sentence anymore as he felt panic begin to rise in his chest, knowing he should try to control it. By the looks of it, Ace felt the same way, his eyes wide and darting around the room, already looking for a way to escape.

If that place was a government-run building, as in the marines controlled it, then they were literally surrounded by their worst enemy.

They were the mice who had willingly walked right back into the mouse trap after having just escaped from it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"They've been over there for a while, don't you think?" Thatch asked. He was leaning over the railing, his chin in his hands as he stared at the marine ship. Beside him, Namur rolled his eyes.

"They're seeing their grandfather for the first time in, what was it? Seven years? They have a lot of catching up to do. Besides, don't you have lunch to be making right now?" Namur asked. It was nearly noon now and the chef had been standing at the railing the entire time since the brothers had left.

"Yeah," Thatch started with a sigh, standing up straight and dusting off his clothes, lighting a cigarette.

"I guess I'll go do that then. Tell me when they get back." Thatch mumbled, beginning to walk away.

"You're getting too attached Thatch, they have a family that they're probably going to return to now," Namur said, knowing his brother was sometimes much too caring and would only be heartbroken when the boys had to go.

"So what if I get attached? How can you not?!" Thatch asked, raising his arms in exaggeration as he continued to walk away from the fish man. Namur shook his head, a smile playing on his lips at his brothers' antics.

"Well, I guess you're right about that one Thatch," Namur mumbled, taking Thatch's place as he leaned over the railing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Y-you tricked us! You let them take us there!" Ace accused, jumping out of his seat, pulling Luffy with him as he did. Sabo wanted to argue against Ace, tell him to calm down, tell him Garp wouldn't do that, but it had been exactly what he had been thinking as well. He found himself scooting away from the table, getting ready to stand as well.

"You let them take us for seven years and didn't even come for us!" Ace continued, his wide panicked eyes narrowing in anger.

"Ace-"

"And now what?! You want to take us back?!" Ace asked, squeezing tightly at Luffys hand. The youngest of the three looked petrified, looking at Garp with a look of betrayal. He was too panicked because of Ace and Sabo's emotions as well as his own to even feel anything Garp might be feeling, and he didn't trust himself to take down a wall to see what color surrounded his grandfather. He was terrified that if he did successfully take the wall down he would see a familiar black surrounding the marine, but he was also terrified that he was too panicked and would take down both walls and end up seeing the man's memories as well.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you you bastard!" Ace finished, already starting to move for the door. Before he could reach it though, the marine blocked it, placing his hands on the fiery teens' shoulders.

"Ace, listen to me!" Garp pleaded. Ace was going to retort, about to flame up so Garp would let go of him, but the man continued.

"I didn't have anything to do with it! I didn't know you had been taken to the facility! If I had I would have-... I would've found you and gotten you out." Garp said, his hands slipping from Aces shoulders as he spoke, dropping back to his side as he looked at the ground, glaring and clenching his fists again. It was silent and tense in the room, a feeling the brothers had become highly accustomed to by now.

"And why should we believe you?" Ace growled out. The marine looked up, opening his mouth to respond, but sighed and closed it, looking back down.

"You shouldn't, and you don't have to. If you don't want to that's fine, I'll take you to any island you want and let you three go, never see me again, or I'll even let you just stay with the Whitebeards and decide things from there. But please, believe me, I would never do that to you boys, you're my grandsons." Garp pleaded. Everyone lapsed into silence again, and Luffy tried calming down so he could feel Garp's emotions. He could only feel sincerity from the man which made Luffy believe his grandfather was telling the truth.

'Not lying.' Luffy tapped to Ace and Sabo. Sabo, who had stood up once Ace started charging for the door, walked up behind Ace, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm the hot head down.

"We believe you, or at least, Luffy and I do. Ace might need a while to cool off." Sabo said carefully, as calmly as he could. Garp nodded, sighing again.

"I understand." He said, shuffling back to his seat and sitting down. Sabo looked at Ace who was staring at the door, glaring as he thought.

'You can go if you want Ace, but I'm staying to keep talking.' Sabo tapped out, already turning to sit back down as well. Luffy looked between his brothers with worry, feeling the anger rolling off of Ace, being careful not to let it get to him by feeling the peace and calm coming from Sabo. Mind made up Luffy turned as well, sitting back down beside Sabo.

Everyone waited, watching to see what Ace would do, and after many moments of silence he finally gave out a huff of annoyance, spinning on his heels and shuffling back to his chair beside Luffy, grumbling all the while.

"So... it's a government-run facility. Did you know about what they did there?" Sabo asked, because if Garp did know and allowed it to exist that would be almost as bad as him ratting them out and sending them there himself.

"No, of course not, only Sengoku and a few other really high ups know what happens there. I only know that its a government building where they're doing some sort of testing. I didn't know it was human experiments, on children no less." He said with a scowl. Sabo nodded.

"When I found out you three disappeared I had my men looking everywhere for you. We searched all the blues and when we didn't find you there I knew you were on the Grand Line or even the New World which made it much harder to find you. I asked for Akagamis help and he asked for Whitebeards help. Thank God he happened to be on that island, I don't want to even think about what could have happened instead." Garp said, shaking his head and looking down again.

The brothers shivered at the thought as well. Ace and Sabo would probably still be locked up there, and if they were lucky Luffy would have left the island, but even then, his chance of surviving out on the sea by himself was slim to none.

"The Marines know that the facility has been destroyed and have already sent people to try and get whatever they can from the building. Seeing as you were there for so long you were the center of many of their tests and because of that, the marines know of you. They don't know that it's you specifically, all they've got on you is your numbers, the ones on your wrist. They're already having search parties sent out to locate and recapture any escapees and they especially want you three back." Garp said, worry lacing his tone. Panic filled the brothers again at those words.

So there were people coming after them then. In that case, it was probably a really bad idea to try and go back to Dawn Island and pretend nothing had happened. What would happen if a search party came and found them? Would they hurt the people there just to get them back? They didn't want to find out.

"The good news is, they don't have any clue what you three look like. The most they know is your powers, devil fruit abilities and all, and roughly your age. If you refrain from showing others your powers and the numbers on your wrists then you should be safe." Garp continued softly as if someone was listening in on them, which Sabo was sure there wasn't seeing as he hadn't heard anyone get closer and none of them could sense anyone with their haki.

"That's great and all, but what now? Do we just go back home and forget any of this happened? Hide for the rest of our lives?" Ace asked, fury at being powerless once again taking form in him. Garp sighed, leaning back in his chair, shaking his head.

"No, it's too dangerous. Even though Dawn Island is known to be protected by me that obviously didn't stop them from getting you the first time. I've... got an idea, but I don't think you three will like it all that much." Garp said with a resigned tone. Ace raised an eyebrow, his frown deepening.

"We're not becoming Marines if that's your big idea." He stated bluntly. Their grandfather shook his head.

"No, that's not it, besides, it would be a bad idea to try and make you three marines now, they would find out too easily who you are," Garp said, shocking the brothers. Garp had been a poster boy for the marines, always boasting that it would be the best and only place the boys would end up in their lives, and now he was telling them that it was the worst place for them and that they shouldn't join?

"Oh..." Ace said dumbly, clearly shocked.

"What's your plan then?" Sabo asked.

"I think you should stay with the Whitebeard Pirates."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Are they back yet?"

"No Thatch."

"How 'bout now?"

"Still no."

"Noooww~?"

"No."

"But what about-"

"Thatch, I swear to Kami, if you ask if their back one more time I'm going to cut your hair off." Thatch gasped at the threat.

"Izo! You wouldn't dare!" Thatch cried. Izo turned a glare on the chef.

"Try me."

Thatch eeped, clutching his precious hair and running back into the kitchen.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Omake:**

The Red Force crawled slowly yet surely across the waters. The winds had died down a bit and any good progress they had been making to the next island had stopped, the sails pushing the ship along lazily with every small gust of wind.

The crew milled along lazily, much like the wind, finding no motivation to do anything that involved more than walking a few feet. After seeing the brothers and the party that had ensued, the pirates of the Red-Haired Captains crew were all fighting their massive hangovers, headaches throbbing and light blinding them.

That didn't stop the loud yelling from coming from the Captain's quarters though.

"-Can't believe they've been there for seven years!" Inside, their Captain Shanks was ranting to his first mate Benn, the two having been in there ever since they had left the brothers with the Whitebeards. They didn't know what had happened to their favorite anchor and his brothers, but from the yelling they've heard so far, it was nothing good.

"Seven years, Benn! I should have asked Whitebeard if there were any surviving bastards so I can go kill them. Better yet, let's go find a necromancer or something! Someone who can bring them back to life just so I can kill them again! Surely someones got some kind of devil fruit that'll make that work!" Yassopp and Lucky Roo shared a glance at the words, wondering just what these people had done to piss their Captain off this much.

Well, they did take their little Anchor, but they felt that something really bad must have happened to him for their Captain to go this all out.

"What do you mean that's too crazy an idea?! Fine, how about someone who can damn their souls to hell for all eternity? Do you think we could manage that?" Shanks' voice was bordering desperate, but more of a wild desperate that threatened violence along with it if his demands weren't met.

"Hey, does anyone else see that ship over there?" Someone near the railing asked. Yassopp looked, realizing that there did seem to be a quickly approaching ship.

"Ah, marines. Think they're here about our little visit to Whitebeard?" Yassopp asked. Lucky Roo shrugged beside him, taking a chunk out of the meat he was holding.

"Who knows. Who wants to go tell the Captain?" Lucky Roo asked, everyone quickly calling out not its. The poor unfortunate soul who hadn't said anything had been too preoccupied nursing his headache to pay any attention.

"Looks like you're up Richie. Knock 'em dead!" Someone said, Richie looking up in confusion. Once he was briefed about what was happening he paled, swallowed, then nodded, standing and nervously heading to the Captains cabin.

The yelling had yet to die down, mind you.

There was a cease in the yelling momentarily, most likely because Richie had interrupted him, before the yelling was back, louder than ever.

"And now these bastards are here too! Good, I need a good fight!" Shanks' voice got louder as he walked out of the cabin, face red with anger and eyes blazing as he narrowed in on the Marine ship. Benn walked out behind him, shaking his head, though he looked annoyed as well.

"Damn, I was hoping it'd be bigger than that."

Needless to say, the Marines didn't even know what hit them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> The facility is run by the Marines, and Garp's suggested the brothers stay with Whitebeard. Despite the fact that the only thing Garp ever wanted for the brothers was for them to be safe and in the marines, as he said, that would only put them in more danger seeing as all someone would have to do was see their numbers to know who they were.
> 
> The facility being government-run also explains a few things, like why Garp couldn't find them easily, why the people who worked there didn't spill anything to the pirates, and, if you remember, why Luffy always saw the doctors meeting with Marines before they ended up working at the facility when he saw their memories. It also explains why the facility was so secretive and why they destroyed all their test results and documents once there was a threat of them being found out. The Marines would look bad if the public found out they were experimenting on children.
> 
> Speaking of, its still a mystery why the marines were experimenting on children, but that will be revealed much later on.


	32. A New Home

"Alright old man, you've officially gone insane." Ace said with wide eyes. Sabo couldn't help but find himself agreeing with his brothers' statement. First, they found out that Garp didn't want them to be marines, and now they were finding out that he wanted them to stay with pirates?

Luffy, who had been silent up until then, staring at the table, looked up with an almost questioning look, a small frown playing on his lips as his shifting stopped. He was trying to read his grandfathers' feelings, but it was hard, the man feeling shame one second, guilt the next, and then relief, but now, it was... calm. He felt almost a resigned feeling coming from the Marine and it confused Luffy more than ever, not sure how to take that.

"You want us to stay with pirates," Sabo asked slowly, trying to wrap his mind around Garps' thinking.

"It's not really that I want you to, it's more that... at this point in time, its the safest place for you three." Garp tried explaining with a shake of his head. Sabo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Since when did you think staying with pirates was safe?" Ace asked, eliciting a frown from Garp.

"When the marines took my Grandsons for seven years," Garp muttered darkly, effectively silencing the brothers. Everyone sat in silence, thinking over Garp's plans.

"Good people?" Luffy finally asked, gaining everyone's attention. Garp raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding the youngests question.

"Are they good people? Shanks said they're good people, and they've been nice, but there are so many colors and if we have to stay with them they have to be good people because bad people are mean." Luffy rambled, Garp finally understanding the question.

"Yes Luffy, the Whitebeard pirates are very good people, they would never hurt one of their own," Garp said confidently, knowing that that was rule number one when becoming a Whitebeard pirate.

"But we won't be 'one of them,' we'll just be... there." Ace countered because if this was happening, he was going to make sure that these people wouldn't hurt them.

"Just being there will make you one of them Ace. You don't have to have their mark for them to think of you as their family." Garp explained, and it was still a strange contrast to see someone who once expressed daily their hatred for pirates suddenly start praising them.

"They won't hurt us?" Luffy asked, wanting to make sure.

"They won't, I promise Luffy." And Luffy believed him, not only because he was his grandfather, but because he could feel the sincerity in the man's emotions.

"Say we do agree to this, are we just supposed to stay with them for the rest of our lives?" Ace asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at his grandfather. They had always dreamed about becoming pirates because pirates were free, but when you're forced to become a pirate with no other choice in your life, it takes that freedom away, and when that freedom is gone, were they really becoming the pirates they had always dreamed of being?

"For now, yes, but hopefully, in the future, this will all blow over. If you stay hidden long enough the Marines may just believe you three died and give up on the search. If that doesn't happen to be the case then... I can't blame you if you decide to leave the Whitebeards, or even become pirates." Garp said, and it sounded like he didn't want to be saying the words, yet he did.

"You've become... much more understanding..." Sabo said in surprise. Garp sighed.

"Well, a grandfather can't be picky about how his grandsons choose to live their lives, especially when their options have been significantly narrowed," Garp said, looking to the ceiling with a frown.

"That's great and all, but have you talked to the big man about all this? What if he says no? What then?" Ace asked. Sabo nodded in agreement, surprised Ace was bringing up such great points. Garp laughed not his normal bellowing laugh that the brothers were used to, but more of a knowing chuckle.

"Oh, believe me, I don't think it'll take that much convincing," Garp said, the smile not leaving his face. This only confused the brothers more but they shrugged it off.

"Why don't you let us talk this over for a few minutes?" Sabo asked, the marine nodding as he stood up and left the room, leaving the brothers alone. Sabo waited until he heard the man's footsteps get far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear their conversation and turned to his brothers.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Sabo asked, already having a feeling he knew how they felt about it.

"I think its a horrible idea. They're pirates, and now we know the marines are looking for us too! If they find out we're the ones they're looking for whose to say they won't turn us in for money? Or use us for our power?" Ace asked. Sabo nodded, understanding where his brother was coming from, and to be honest, he was having many of the same thoughts himself.

"You're right about that Ace, but, playing devil's advocate, where would we go instead? We can't go back to Dawn Island and we have no idea where in the Grand Line we are. Even if we just go to the nearest island we have no money, no supplies, and no experience with sailing these waters. We would also be much more vulnerable to attacks, marine or pirate." Sabo said, not quite sure himself what the right answer was.

"We could fight 'em, and besides, we could just... borrow a few things." Ace said with a shrug. Sabo sighed, shaking his head.

"We're trying to stay hidden Ace, not raise attention towards ourselves by stealing and using our powers against anyone we come in contact with," Sabo said. Ace pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you're saying you wanna stay with the pirates then?" The eldest asked accusingly, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. Sabo frowned, shaking his head again.

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all, I'm just being realistic. The last thing I want is to go back to the Whitebeard ship and stay with them for who knows how long, but our other options aren't looking that great either." Sabo argued, leaving Ace silent.

"Jii-jii said they were good people," Luffy said eventually, not meeting his brothers' gazes.

"Since when do we listen to the shitty geezer?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow. Luffy shrugged meekly.

"I dunno, but he wasn't lying, and Shanks said they were good too and he wasn't lying either," Luffy said softly.

"Lu, they may have said that, and meant it, but that doesn't mean its true. The Whitebeard Pirates might be completely different people when Garp and Shanks aren't around, so of course, they would think they were good people, even if they really weren't." Sabo said slowly, frowning as he spoke. Luffy frowned now as well, shaking his head.

"Bad people have bad colors and feelings, the Whitebeards didn't have those. If we leave the bad people might find us again, and I don't like the bad feelings, they're slimy and gross." Luffy said with a grimace. Sabo looked up to Ace, hesitating.

"But if we stay with them they could turn into bad people too, like those doctors that started blue and turned grey." Ace said. It wasn't that they wanted to scare their younger brother, but they were just trying to take into account every side of this story.

"But bad people don't keep promises and don't have the warm feeling. Giant Mustache had lots and lots of the warm feeling, he's not bad. And Mr. Chef kept his promises too, he's not bad." Luffy argued, glaring a bit now. Realizing things were beginning to escalate Sabo tried to calm the boy down.

"We believe you Luffy, they might be good people and they might stay good people, but what about all the others? What are the chances of everyone staying good? It only takes one to ruin a bunch and we have to be aware of the fact that, even if things are good for a while, when they find out about us, there's a chance they might turn on us." Sabo explained slowly. Luffy went silent now as he began thinking.

He knew Sabo was right, that there was a chance that they would turn on the brothers once they found out about them, but Luffy didn't really like their other options either.

"So what's our choice then?" Sabo asked with a sigh, leaning back in exhaustion. This was all emotionally taxing on him and he just wanted his life to go back to simple normalcy.

"If we stay, who knows how long we'll be with the pirates, but if we leave, who knows how long we'll stay hidden before we're found out," Sabo muttered, running through every outcome as quickly as he could. It seemed like a hypothetical question, one that, no matter what answer you gave, it was never the right one.

The three sat in silence, none of them liking either option more than the other, but all of them knowing they needed to choose, and soon.

"Assuming they don't find out about us or turn on us then staying with the Whitebeards would be the safer option," Sabo said eventually, though not because he liked saying it. In theory, it was easy to keep their past hidden, but reality was much different. They would have to keep Ace and Luffy from using their devil fruit powers around the pirates which was easier said than done. It was a miracle they'd kept them hidden this long.

"But if they do turn on us then they'd be the worst option." Ace countered.

"If we keep this up then we'll get nowhere." Sabo sighed, leaning over the table and putting his head in his arms.

"I think we should stay with the pirates..." Luffy piped up. Sabo raised his head back up in shock while Ace raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"Really?" Sabo asked. Luffy wasn't fond of strangers or large crowds in general after everything that happened in the facility, more so than Ace and Sabo, so for him to be saying that was surprising.

"Mm. I think they're good people too." Luffy said, determined.

"But-..." Ace trailed off, not quite sure what to say to that. It was obvious Ace wanted nothing to do with the pirates anymore, and Sabo still wasn't sure where he stood on the whole thing, but to hear Luffy so boldly claim that he wanted to stay made them hesitate.

"Why? What if they're not good people?" Ace asked. Luffy shrugged, swinging his feet as he looked to the ground.

"We leave. Ace and Sabo are strong, I think they could beat 'em up and get us out if we needed to!" Luffy said confidently, raising his head and beaming at his brothers. Sabo looked away from Luffy, looking towards Ace now.

"Ace?" He asked, wanting his brother's opinion at this change of events. Aces lips thinned as he thought about it, his eyes narrowing and eyebrows furrowing.

"If, and I mean _if_ , we stay with the pirates, then we need to set some ground rules." Ace said sternly, Sabo and Luffy nodding in agreement.

"We can't let them know about the facility or our powers." Ace said, beginning to count off on his fingers.

"And that means no devil fruits either, alright Luffy?" Ace asked with a pointed look to Luffy who pouted but nodded regardless.

"And we won't ask for much. We're gonna avoid them turning on us any way we can." Ace said, ticking the rule off on his finger. He got more nods of agreement in response.

"If we are staying indefinitely they're probably gonna make us do chores or something, so no complaints about that either," Sabo added as a bit of an afterthought, Ace nodding in agreement along with Luffy.

"And Luffy, you'll still have to keep an eye out for any dark colors." Ace said, Luffys face growing serious as he continued nodding.

"Sound good?" Sabo asked, mostly to Luffy. The youngest still had a determined, serious look on his face, but he nodded.

"Let's get this over with then." Ace grumbled.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Hey Thatch, they're coming back," Blamenco muttered from where he stood, seeing the three along with Garp finally emerge from wherever they had gone to. Thatch practically ran to the railing, beaming brightly.

"Finally! Its almost the end of lunch!" Thatch said happily, some commanders laughing at the chef's over enthusiasm. The entire crew watched as they reboarded the Moby, Ace scanning over everyone with a glare while Sabo was speaking quietly to the youngest who was looking at the ground as he walked, Garp leading them.

"Hey, you guys! Lunch is almost over, but I've still got enough for you if you want to go eat." Thatch greeted the brothers who looked to Garp. The marine nodded.

"You boys go on, I'll talk to Whitebeard." He said, the brothers nodding and following Thatch who began talking animatedly.

"Garp, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Whitebeard asked as Garp made his way over, sitting in front of the Captain.

"I've got a bit of a favor to ask you Newgate." Garp began with a sigh. The giant raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" He asked, waiting to hear what this favor was. Garp nodded, frowning.

"I want you to watch over my brats for a bit." The man requested. Whitebeard leaned back in his chair while the commanders watched in confusion.

"And how long is a bit?" Whitebeard asked, not having expected this request. Another sigh escaped Garp as he looked at the giant.

"As long as you would be willing." Whitebeard frowned along with some of the Commanders.

"Wouldn't you want to take them with you? After all, you just got them back after they've been gone for years, yoi." Marco said, watching Garp nod in agreement.

"I would like to take them with me, but I can't keep them safe anymore," Garp said softly, only confusing everyone more.

"You're a marine, are you implying that pirates are safer than the government?" Izo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For those three, that's exactly what I'm saying." The marine said almost painfully. Whitebeard frowned.

"And why would that be?" Whitebeard asked curiously, wanting to know more about the three he was interested in. He did want to take the brothers in, they would make good additions to his family, but it didn't make sense why their real family would want them gone so suddenly after finally reuniting with them again.

"The place they escaped from... it was a government-run facility..." Garp said, looking away and frowning, hearing some of the commanders gasp.

"That place was allowed by the Marines?!" Jozu asked, having seen first hand what was happening in that place. Others nodded, showing they were thinking the same thing.

"As much as I hate to say it, yes. I didn't know what they were doing there, but after the boys told me..." Garp trailed off, and this only made the pirates more curious. They hadn't gotten anything out of the brothers about what happened in that place, but it seemed they had told the marine, not that that shocked them all that much, he was their grandfather.

"After they escaped the marines started sending search parties out for anyone with the numbers on their wrists. They especially want my grandsons back." Garp growled out.

"Why them especially?" Fossa asked. Garp frowned.

"Because they were there the longest, they have the most information on them. They don't know what they look like though, they only know their ages and their numbers, but just that much is enough for them to find them and take them back. I can't let that happen, not after I just got them back, so I'm asking if you'll take them with you and keep them safe." Garp said, nearly pleading now.

The doors to the galley opened and the brothers were walking back out, Thatch still talking happily beside them as they made their way back over to the Captain who was deep in thought, glancing to the brothers.

Sensing the serious mood Thatch slowly stopped talking, joining the other Commanders while the brothers joined Garp.

"I assume you know about what your grandfather was requesting?" Whitebeard asked, the brothers nodding.

"Yes Whitebeard sir, we would appreciate it if you took us in, but we understand if you cannot," Sabo said with a slight bow. Whitebeard watched them for a moment, the brothers resisting the urge to shift nervously under the man's gaze, before smiling.

"Alright, I'll take your brats in for you Garp," Whitebeard said eventually, eliciting a sigh from both Garp and the brothers.

"Thank you, Newgate," Garp said, standing. Whitebeard nodded while Garp turned to the brothers.

"You three be good, you hear? And no causing trouble for Newgate and his men." Garp said with a stern glare, the brothers nodding.

"I've raised you three to be good marines, but I guess that's no longer going to be the case, so... you better be the best damn pirates this world has ever seen!" Garp exclaimed, tears beginning to fill his eyes. The words filled the brothers with so much emotion it shocked them. They hadn't ever thought they would hear Garp encourage their dreams of being pirates, but they also hadn't expected to hear many of the things Garp had said that day.

"I'm gonna miss you Jii-jii!" Luffy cried, running to give Garp another hug.

"I'll miss you too Luffy, but I'll come to visit when I can so you three better not get weak on me! Next time I'm here training will resume!" Garp announced, sending shivers down the brother's spines as they remembered their grandfathers 'training' sessions.

"In that case, don't come back you shitty geezer." Ace grumbled, earning a glare in response as Garp cracked his knuckles.

"What was that you ungrateful grandson?!" Garp asked. Ace made a very unattractive noise before he bolted away, Garp chasing after him with his fist raised.

"Is this how you thank me for making you strong young boys?!"

"Who was thanking you you insane bastard?!"

"I told you to call me Grandpa brat!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> And now the brothers are officially staying with the Whitebeards for... indefinitely really. With everything the brothers have gone through and with how deep the facility and the marines ties run, it would be difficult to find a spot that the brothers could stay and remain safe. Naturally, people would believe staying with the Marines would be best, however that's not the case for obvious reasons. The next idea would maybe be a new island they could start new lives on, but that wouldn't be best either seeing as the Marines are sending search parties everywhere trying to find them. The matter of sending them to the Revolutionaries could work, however it'll be mentioned later on why we haven't seen much about them.
> 
> Anyways, that's why I feel it would be best for them to stay with pirates, especially ones that Garp could even trust. It was asked why they don't just stay with Shanks, but I didn't want to choose him because, well for starters, this story is about the brothers joining the Whitebeards, not Shanks, and second, the Whitebeards have a far greater crew then Shanks. They have more allies, more territory, more members, and they're known for being the strongest crew. No one messes with the Whitebeards and gets away with it- still waiting for Teach to get his comeuppance- so the safest crew for the brothers to hide amongst would be the Whitebeards. Besides, there are so many members of the Whitebeards that another three would slip by the Marines' notice compared to them joining a smaller crew like Shanks'.


	33. Getting Situated

After Garp stopped chasing Ace he finished saying his goodbyes before he boarded his own ship, promising to visit again when he could. The brothers waved as he sailed off, much like they had done with Shanks, but this time, no one else was coming. They were going to be stuck with the Whitebeard pirates for a while.

'What now?' Ace asked when they finally finished waving. Sabo sighed.

'We can't get away with hiding away in our room all day anymore, we might as well stay out for a bit.' Sabo responded reluctantly, glancing at their surroundings and noticing they were once again the center of the Whitebeard Pirates' attention.

'You'd think they'd know not to stare by now.' Ace responded with a sour look as he continued glaring at everyone. Sabo sighed as the brothers turned and began walking off in a random direction.

'Curious people stare Ace, its just what they do.' Sabo said as he took in their surroundings. Now that they knew they were going to be here a while they should at least get used to the layout of the giant ship.

'Yeah, well, they shouldn't be so damn curious.' Ace tapped, but even he was looking around to better orient himself. Luffy was glancing around as well, using his sense of smell so that he could place smells with objects or people.

He was listening to his brothers tapping, following their silent conversation with ease even if he couldn't see it as he focused on a bundle of rope that smelled especially salty, probably having been in the ocean not too long ago. Looking around some more he noticed a familiar sweet scent, turning to find that it was coming from lady-not-lady who was making their way towards them.

He wasn't worried about the lady-not-lady hurting him or his brothers, after all, they were projecting only calm and even happy feelings and their color had been blue last time Luffy checked so he focused more on their scent, doing his best to remember it.

'Izo.' That's right, that was lady-not-lady's name. Sabo's tap alerted Ace to the presence of the commander and he tensed slightly before continuing to walk normally as if he didn't know the commander was there.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy," Izo's words had the brothers stopping, Luffy peering up at his brothers, gauging their reactions. Sabo looked like he was steeling himself, taking a deep breath before smiling and turning to face the man, Ace turning as well, though the only thing he did was hold back a scowl, while Luffy turned timidly. He didn't know how to feel about lady-not-lady. On one hand, they were nice, that much Luffy knew, and they hadn't done anything to hurt him or his brothers so far, and he had a good color and good feelings too, so that helped, but they didn't know much about him at all, and that was enough for Luffy to be cautious.

"Commander," Sabo said, nodding in greeting. Izo waved the word off.

"Call me Izo. Seeing as we're going to be shipmates for a while there's no use keeping up formalities." Izo said, smiling once more. There was a bit of hesitance but Sabo nodded none the less.

"Anyways, I just thought I'd come by and give you guys a better tour. We didn't think you would be staying with us that long so Marco only showed you the important places." Izo said with a shrug.

'Do we have to?' Ace tapped out, and Sabo could practically hear the whine.

'It would be helpful Ace, besides, we were already going to look around, this way we'll actually know where we are.' Sabo tapped back, Ace holding back a pout. Even though the eldest knew they were going to be there a long time, and he knew they would be seeing a lot of the pirates, that didn't mean he was volunteering to go spend time with them willingly.

'Lady-not-lady's nice.' Luffy tapped simply, having been checking Izo's feelings as his brothers discussed what to do.

'Izo, Luffy, their name's Izo.' Sabo corrected, not wanting Luffy to mention that nickname to the pirate in case they took offense to it.

"Thank you Izo, that would be much appreciated," Sabo said with an easy smile. Izo nodded, moving to be in front of the brothers as he gestured to the area they were already in.

"Well, in that case, for starters, this is the way to the stern of the ship," Izo started, gesturing to the set of stairs in front of them, all of them beginning to make their way up them. As they moved along from one side of the deck to the next Izo explained to them what each part of the ship was and what it did or what you could find there. This went on for a bit, the group even venturing a bit inside at one point.

"And over there is the helm, and over here is where everyone likes to do most of their fishing," Sabo took in everything Izo said, because he had no clue how long he and his brothers would be there, so any information was important information.

'We almost done? I wanna take a nap.' Ace said, and Sabo could see that the fiery teens' eyes were beginning to droop slightly. Even though he had gotten a good nights sleep on Shanks' ship the eldest was still tired after having more than a few sleepless nights on the Moby. The stress hadn't helped either, along with his insomnia and narcolepsy and Sabo was hoping that Ace wouldn't have an attack right now when they were surrounded by pirates on all sides.

'Well, we've seen the entire deck now, and a bit of the inside... I could ask Izo for a break for now but we'd have to finish this later.' Sabo said as he thought it all out. Ace suppressed a yawn and Sabo knew they were going to have to cut this short.

"I'm sorry Izo, but seeing as the ship is so big, do you think we could continue this tour later? Shanks' party ran a little late last night and we're all a bit tired still." Sabo said apologetically, forcing a yawn, finding that it wasn't that hard to do so. Even he was feeling a bit tired, and by Luffy's slightly sluggish movements and lack of response during the conversation, he was tired as well.

Seeing this, Izo nodded, smiling to the three.

"Of course, you three go take a nap," Izo said with a wave. Sabo responded with a wave of his own as he and his brothers turned toward their room.

"Thank you Izo, see you later," Sabo said, not waiting for a response as they walked away.

The walk back was made in silence, the brothers ignoring any lingering stares from pirates who hadn't seen them since they got back from Garp's ship. They had only just closed the door to their room when Ace slumped to the ground, only slightly alarming Sabo and Luffy before they got over it, Sabo picking the hot head up and carrying him to the bed.

"Well, at least he had good timing," Sabo said as he finally laid Ace down, Luffy yawning loudly behind him.

"You should nap too Luffy, I'll stay up for a bit, wait for the hot head to get up," Sabo said with a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal, and, really, it wasn't. Luffy looked at the blonde for a second before nodding, crawling into the bed beside Ace and curling up, enjoying the fact that Ace was practically a radiator.

And that was how it was for the next few hours. Sabo sat at the desk, making patterns in the wood with his finger as he listened to the pirates, listening for anyone talking about them. People were more likely to speak their minds about someone when they didn't think that person was listening. A large number of pirates were mentioning the brothers, but nothing interesting or noteworthy, mostly just confusion, wondering what had happened in the facility or talking about the fact that they were related to Garp or knew Shanks.

"I barely even saw 'em today, but I heard Izo was givin' 'em a tour."

"Really? I thought they would have been in their room."

"A mystery those three, I don't think we'll understand them even if we spend a whole year with 'em."

"Poor kids are already being hunted down by marines."

"It never ceases to amaze me how low marines will stoop to keep something quiet."

Sabo recognized that last voice as being one of the commanders, though Sabo couldn't quite place which one of them it was... Fossa maybe? Or was it Atmos? Sabo hadn't been listening to any one conversation, instead, he was changing from one to another until he happened to hear the commander talking. Before he could listen in more he noticed Aces breathing begin to pick up, an indicator that he was waking up, from a nightmare no less.

Getting up from the desk and stretching Sabo made his way to the bed, already shaking Ace, careful not to wake Luffy as well. It only took a minute to get Ace out of his own nightmare, the eldest bolting upright and looking around frantically.

"Its fine Ace, we're in our room," Sabo said soothingly, watching the panic leave the eldest's eyes as he remembered where he was, recognizing his surroundings. He noticed Luffy sleeping beside him as Sabo began heading back to the desk chair.

"You had another attack so I had Luffy take a nap too. He seemed tired, and I guess you were too, it's been about three hours." Sabo said, taking note that dinner would be started soon.

"I think I woke up after my attack but I ended up going back to sleep." Ace mumbled as if he didn't quite know himself. Sabo raised an eyebrow at him.

"Huh, I didn't notice then." The blonde said, thinking back to the past few hours, not remembering the sound of Ace waking up.

"Really? Whats got you so distracted?" Ace asked, looking around the room as he spoke in a hushed tone. Sabo smiled, shaking his head.

"Nothing much, I was just listening to the pirates talk about us out there," Sabo said with a shrug. Ace frowned now.

"We're a hot topic then, huh?" Ace asked, remembering back when Sabo would listen in on the doctors when they talked about the brothers.

"More like they have nothing more interesting to talk about. The only other thing they talk about is recent pirate attacks or where they're heading next. Apparently, it had been pretty quiet here until they found us." Sabo said with a sigh. The two fell silent after that, and it stayed that way for a few more minutes until Sabo noticed Luffy was starting to have another nightmare.

"Wake him up," Sabo said, nodding his head to Luffy. Ace frowned but nodded, knowing that meant the youngest was having a nightmare. All three of the brothers were plagued with nightmares nearly daily, every other day if they were lucky, but Luffy tended to have the worst nightmares of the three, enough to make him more resigned for even hours after having them.

Ace was already shaking the youngest, whispering soothing things to calm him down, and within a few minutes the raven was waking up in much the same way Ace had, bolting upright with panicked eyes that darted all around the room.

It seemed he had had one of his worse nightmares if the sweat on his face and the wild look in his eyes were any indications. Sabo frowned as he once again stood from the chair and went to the bed moving closer to help comfort the youngest with Ace.

"Hey, everything's ok Luffy, we're all ok," Sabo said soothingly, Ace nodding from where he sat.

"Yeah, we're fine, it was just another nightmare." Ace said in an equally calming voice, rubbing Luffys back. Luffy rubbed his eyes, almost a little too hard, and shook his head, crawling out of the bed.

"Wanna go outside," Luffy mumbled, not even waiting for his brothers which shocked them slightly. Even though the youngest had a nightmare he was about to willingly go outside where there were tons of pirates, and he wasn't even waiting for Ace or Sabo. Whether the boy thought that the two would follow him anyways or he just didn't care, they didn't know, but either way Ace and Sabo scrambled out of the bed, rushing up to Luffy.

"Wait, Luffy, hold on," Sabo said, taking the littlest's hand in his, slowing his brothers fast pace before he could reach the door.

"Yeah Lu, you do know there are about a few hundred people out there right? Are you sure you want to go out there right now?" Ace asked with a worried expression as he looked over Luffy, wondering if his brother was beginning to go crazy. Luffy merely frowned at his brothers, moving his free hand forward and grabbing the doorknob before they could protest anymore. Even though Sabo had a hold on Luffy's other hand that didn't stop the rubber man from leaving the room, forcing Sabo to let go of his brother to keep from anyone seeing Luffy's arm stretching as he walked away.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo hissed quietly as they ran after the youngest, barely remembering to close their door behind them. The straw-hatted boy didn't respond, continuing to walk briskly down the hallway and out onto the deck, ignoring any looks from the pirates as he moved to the railing and climbed onto it swiftly, taking off his hat and staring at the sea with a solemn expression.

Ace and Sabo, who had followed the youngest, glanced at each other with worry, not having seen Luffy act like this before from a nightmare. Not wanting to cause a scene though they resumed their normal positions, Ace sitting on the ground and keeping an eye out while Sabo joined their brother on the railing, also looking at the sea.

It was around five in the evening now, the sky beginning to turn orange as it slowly got darker. The trio sat in silence, Ace and Sabo still thoroughly confused as to what was happening with Luffy and not knowing quite how to address it. The pirates seemed to notice the tenseness in the youngest and the worry in Ace and Sabo, many of them shooting them curious glances because of this, but all they could do was ignore it.

'Luffy?' Sabo tried, deciding now was not a time to talk, especially with everyone around them listening in.

Luffy gave no indication that he was going to respond, and Sabo was ready to leave it at that, but almost reluctantly Luffy responded, his taps slow and soft, almost too quiet for Ace to hear them.

'Sorry' The two eldest frowned at this, Sabo bumping shoulders lightly with Luffy in an attempt to cheer the youngest up.

'There's nothing to be sorry for Lu, its ok, you didn't do anything wrong.' Sabo said, Ace nodding in agreement. Luffy frowned, shaking his head.

'I worried Ace and Sabo, and I made you guys come out here even though I knew you two were nervous and scared and you didn't want to come out here but I couldn't stay in there cause I couldn't breathe and it was small and stuffy and I wanted to see the ocean, and-' Sabo had to forcibly stop Luffy's ramblings, covering the teens hand with his own. Luffy hesitated, realizing he had been tapping louder than he had meant, some pirates turning at the noise but shrugging it off once they realized what it was.

'Sorry...' Luffy tapped out again, much softer as he hung his head, still frowning.

'Really Lu, its fine, Ace and I understand. You had a nightmare and it messed you up a bit more than Ace and I thought it would. Its ok, it happens." Sabo tapped reassuringly. It went silent again as Sabo and Ace began sending warm pulses to Luffy, trying to show that they forgave him. He knew that Luffy could feel the sincerity coming from him, but sometimes the youngest would ignore those things when he was convinced of something otherwise.

'Are you feeling better?' Sabo eventually asked after a few minutes. Slowly Luffy nodded, grabbing his hat off his head and twirling it in his fingers, a small smile blossoming on his face.

'Yeah... Ace and Sabo are the best!' Luffy responded, laughing quietly. Sabo laughed a bit as well, ruffling Luffy's hair fondly.

"And don't you forget it." Ace spoke up, turning to look at Luffy as well. Luffys smile widened as he looked back at Ace.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed happily, any bad feelings from his nightmare gone now.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Marco watched the brothers carefully from where he stood against one of the Mobys many masts. He, as well as many other brothers of his, had noticed the tenseness that was surrounding the brothers when they had reemerged from their room after their nap.

Worried that something had happened Marco had decided to keep an eye on the three, debating whether he should go over and say anything or not.

The brothers had been a mystery to everyone on the Moby ever since they had gotten there. even to Marco. Even from the beginning, they were doing things that only raised more questions in the first mates' mind rather than answering anything.

He remembered when the brothers had first gotten their own room, a room he knew for a fact had two separate beds, but after only a few hours the three had managed to somehow move the beds together despite the fact that they were bolted to the ground. Not only that, but there had been the time Sabo had abruptly shut the door in his face when he was getting them for a meal. At the time Marco kept a closer eye on them, thinking something was wrong, but they gave no indication that anything was out of the ordinary so Marco decided not to question it.

There was also the time the youngest, Luffy, had practically fainted during one of the meals after acting strangely and staring at Oyaji. No one had gotten any answers other then the boy was tired, but that didn't explain why the boy had been so interested in Oyaji or what he had been looking for before he had fainted. Even Whiskey couldn't find anything wrong, so once again, they were left with no other option but to move on and wonder about it privately, because they weren't going to get any answers from the brothers.

Not only were the brothers mysterious in every sense of the word, but they also seemed to be resourceful when necessary. Before the pirates knew that they needed larger quantities of food the brothers had done a good job at hiding that fact, not complaining in the slightest or giving any indication that they were still hungry. There was also the time that they had managed to cut their hair without anyone noticing, showing that, if they needed something, they wouldn't bother asking anyone for help finding it, they would just manage to do it themselves.

Marco and Whitebeard had had many conversations in private about how puzzling the brothers were, but neither of them got any closer to figuring them out.

Marco was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed Luffy was tapping his fingers against the railing loudly. He couldn't see the boys face, but he could see the worried look that Sabo gave him, and after a few seconds of the loud rapping Sabo stopped it, covering the youngest's hand with his own.

Luffy froze up as if he hadn't realized he was tapping in the first place before he hung his head, but Marco didn't miss the minute movement of his fingers as he once again tapped against the railing, much quieter then he had before.

The first commander narrowed his eyes at that, remembering how many times he'd seen the brothers tapping like that. Whether it was against their legs, on the table, or on a railing, the brothers seemed to have a habit of tapping. Marco wondered if it was a nervous habit or something they did unconsciously.

The tension around the brothers increased for a second as Luffy hung his head, but within a few minutes that tension dissipated and Luffy was grabbing the hat off his head, smiling along with his brothers, Sabo ruffling the youngest's hair fondly while Ace seemed to say something that Luffy easily agreed to.

Marco sighed, shaking his head as he smiled slightly, moving away from the mast to go join Whitebeard.

Well, at least things on the Moby were going to be interesting for a while with those brothers around.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

After Luffy had cheered up he no longer wanted to sit at the railing, wanting to explore the ship a bit. Ace and Sabo saw no harm in it, they were already surrounded by pirates, what difference would it make if they were on the other side of the deck instead of by the railing?

They were trying to get used to being around large amounts of people, but it wasn't easy. Even though they were able to be near them the feelings of discomfort and the anxiety they got didn't make it seem worth it. Luffy obviously felt the same but was still forcing himself to at least try and explore the ship.

The three eventually moved away from the railing, slowly making their way through the many mingling pirates as they moved across the deck, using all of their senses to make sure no one got too close or tried hurting them.

The three explored the areas they had seen on their tour with Izo, Luffy familiarizing himself with the smells associated with each spot before they would move on. They did this for a bit before they heard the bell that signaled it was dinner time. Everyone began filing towards the galley, but the brothers hung back at the stern of the ship, waiting for everyone to already be inside before they made their way there as well.

"Man, this crew is huge." Ace muttered as they watched the many crewmates playfully shoving and laughing together as they filed into the galley.

"It is the strongest man's crew, so really it's not all that surprising," Sabo said with a shrug as he watched all the pirates carefully.

'Lazy face is coming.' Luffy tapped, having smelled the man ascending the opposite set of stairs, already spotting the odd haircut peeking around the corner as the man hunched slightly forward before straightening back up, making his way to the brothers.

"Told Thatch not to leave those stupid poles on the stairs, yoi." The man muttered to himself, though the brothers were able to pick it up. Apparently, the man had tripped making his way up the stairs, explaining the hunch he had before.

"Hello there First Commander." Sabo greeted with a smile, suppressing a laugh at the man's misfortune. Marco glanced over at the brothers, scanning over them quickly before nodding back in greeting.

"Just Marco is fine. What are you three doing here? Dinners ready." Marco said with a raised eyebrow. Sabo smiled a bit to the man, shrugging.

"We thought we'd wait for it to get less crowded before we went," Sabo said, gesturing to the many pirates still trying to get into the room. Marco nodded, making a noise of understanding.

"What are you doing?" Ace asked bluntly, slightly shocking the man with the fact that he had spoken. He recovered quickly though, responding with a slight hint of frustration.

"Well, it seems Thatch forgot something up here that he wanted me to get him, yoi. He also forgot to pick up his fishing poles too." Marco said, sending a glare to the objects that were out of sight.

"What'd he forget?" Luffy asked a bit timidly. Marco was once again surprised, because as rare as it was to hear Ace talk it was even rarer to hear Luffy talk. Once again though he got over it.

"His lighter. Apparently, it fell out of his pocket when he was messing around with Haruta and he's stuck in the kitchen so I told him I'd get it for him, yoi." Marco explained, glancing around for the item, though having no clue where to start looking. Even though he knew it was in the area it was still a large section to search for such a tiny item and he had a feeling it would take longer than he would like to find it.

Luffy, however, remembered what the lighter looked like, remembering how, when they were escaping, Thatch had used it to light up the dark hallways for them. Luffy took only a second to try remembering the smell before he discreetly sniffed the air, finding the familiar scent in the air.

"Oh, I know where it is!" Luffy said with a smile, Marco turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? That would make things much easier, yoi." Marco said. Ace and Sabo turned to look at Luffy, slightly confused. The brothers hadn't moved much up here and if Luffy had found the object he most likely would have pointed it out to the brothers, so how did Luffy known where it was?

Despite this Luffy began walking away, everyone following as he moved towards the smaller set of stairs that led even higher up the stern. Beside the stairs was a bundle of rope, coiled together, but Luffy stuck his hand into the middle, pulling out the lighter with ease, turning to hand it to the Commander with a smile.

"Thank you, Luffy, yoi. How did you know it was there?" Marco asked, curious as he took the object from Luffy. The youngest looked a bit nervous for a second before Sabo interrupted.

"Is that what you were talking about when you said you thought you saw something shiny in the rope?" Sabo asked, easily supplying the lie for Luffy, knowing his brother couldn't lie to save his life. Grateful, Luffy grinned, nodding.

"Mm! I remembered it!" Luffy agreed.

"Well thank you again, I think I would have been here searching forever if you hadn't seen it," Marco said gratefully.

"No problem laz-"

"Oh look, it seems things have finally settled down, come on Luffy, let's go eat." Sabo interrupted, hearing Luffy beginning to say his signature nickname for the first commander. Even though the man hadn't seemed to mind too much the first time he heard Luffy say it he didn't want to push it by letting Luffy say it more and more. He was really going to have to start teaching the youngest everyone's names.

"Yeah, come on Lu, Sabo and I'll eat everything if you don't hurry," Ace added, starting to walk away for dramatic effect. Luffy's eyes widened as he glanced from Marco to his now retreating brothers.

"Gotta go! Ace, Sabo, don't eat without me!"

Marco laughed as he watched the youngest run off after his brothers, feeling as if he had just witnessed something special. The brothers had almost seemed relaxed around him, even though Marco could still tell they were on edge when speaking with him.

The first mate looked to the lighter in his hand, twirling it around.

He did find it odd how the straw-hatted boy had found the object so easily, almost as if he had put it there himself. And the oddly nervous look the boy had when Marco questioned him confused him even more. Why would he be nervous answering such an easy question? Sabo had seemed to save the boy from answering though, and that only confused Marco more.

The brothers were definitely a strange trio.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Did you see Thatch's fishing poles on the stairs? Marcos sure gonna talk his ear off for that one." Curiel said with a laugh. The brothers were in the galley, eating their food quietly, listening in on the conversation as they resumed their normal positions, Ace and Luffy on guard while Sabo did any talking necessary.

"Yeah, he's been telling him for weeks to move those things. When do you think he'll finally do it?" Jiru asked. Haruta laughed quietly, confusing the commanders.

"Hopefully not for another week if I can help it," Haruta said casually, taking another bite of his food.

"What are you talking about?" Atmos asked, completely lost. Haruta shrugged.

"I've given myself a little game. Since things started getting boring now that we're back in Paradise I had to find new ways to get entertainment." Haruta said.

"And how does that involve Thatch not putting away his fishing poles?" Rakuyo asked.

"Its simple, every time Thatch looks like he's gonna put him away I distract him. My goal had been a week in the beginning but now we're so close to a month of them being there that I can't quit now!" Haruta explained with determination. The commanders burst out into laughter, Haruta smiling proudly.

"Well, in that case, good luck, let's just hope Marco doesn't find out you're the reason that those things are still there, you'll probably end up with watch duty and clean up for double the amount of time that they've been there," Jozu said, patting Haruta on the back.

"Its the risk that makes it even more fun," Haruta said before continuing with his meal, the commanders laughing once more before the doors opened, Whitebeard entering and sitting in his usual spot.

"Hey there Pops, have you heard about H- Ruta's new game?" Blamenco asked, beginning to slip up at Haruta's name before remembering the brothers sitting quietly at the table. Whitebeard raised an eyebrow, about to question Blamenco about said game, but Haruta began shushing them.

"Shh, shh, here comes Marco," Haruta said in a rushed whisper, trying to look casual as he began eating his food, though it was too forced and only made him look a bit suspicious. Once again the Commanders began laughing, but Marco didn't question it, only sitting down in his usual spot and beginning his meal as well.

"Hey, Marco, where've you been?" Kingdew asked, completely unfazed by the previous conversation. Marco pulled out Thatch's lighter, showing the table.

"I went to look for Thatch's lighter for him, even though the damn idiot left his fishing poles out again." It was obvious to the brothers, Marco, and Whitebeard that some of the commanders were trying to hold back laughter, Haruta sending them all glares, but Izo was composed enough to speak.

"So, you found it? That was fast, I'm surprised no one else found it first then." Izo said, thinking that if anyone saw the lighter on the ground they would notice and take it to the chef, or even Whitebeard. Marco shook his head.

"I didn't find it, yoi, Luffy did," Marco said, moving his head to gesture to Luffy who was eating quietly. The commanders looked to the boy with curious expressions.

"Really? Good job kid." Vista said, smiling to Luffy who shifted a bit, obviously nervous with all the attention directed his way.

"Where was it anyways?" Namur asked, the attention leaving Luffy at the question and turning back to Marco.

"In the rope, we had up there, yoi," Marco responded, confusing the commanders.

"How'd you- ah, they're gone... well, Marco, how'd he know it was there?" Blamenco asked, noticing the brothers had once again run away leaving empty plates behind. Marco merely responded with a shrug.

"Beats me, the kid found it the second I mentioned it though. When I asked him about it he got nervous and Sabo interrupted, yoi. Apparently, he had seen it when they were up there earlier." Marco said, causing a few of them to frown.

"A tiny lighter in a bundle of ropes? Kid must have some damn good eyesight then if that's the case." Curiel said, some nodding in agreement.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Oh, hey you three, you done with dinner already?" The brothers were stopped on their way to their room by Thatch who had just walked out as well. The brothers hesitated, not having expected anyone to stop them. Normally they could get to their room without issue after meal times.

"Ah, yeah, we actually just finished, what are you doing?" Sabo asked, curious seeing as Thatch had been in the kitchen the entire time, not even coming out to say hi like normal, probably busy. Thatch sighed, looking off towards the stern.

"Well, I've been getting a bit distracted lately every time I go to pick those fishing poles up and if I forget anymore Marco's gonna have my hide, so I'm gonna go pick 'em up before I eat." Thatch said, causing the brothers to remember the game Haruta had been playing. Luffy looked like he wanted to say something, probably spill the beans about Haruta, but Ace placed a hand on his brother's mouth, stopping him.

"Oh, well Ruta was looking for you, he said it was important." Ace said with a mischievous glint in his eye, Sabo smiling a bit at that and nodding.

"Really? I shouldn't keep him waiting then, but this should only take a second." Thatch said, seemingly debating what he should do first.

"He mentioned something about your lighter too," Sabo said, putting on a look as if he was thinking back to this imaginary conversation.

"My lighter? Maybe he found it...?" Thatch asked, more to himself as he turned to the galley doors, already walking towards them.

"Thanks, guys, I'll see you later!" Thatch said, entering the galley, fishing poles forgotten. Sabo and Ace snickered, Luffy watching with confusion, having felt his brothers' feelings of deceptiveness and mischief, confused as to why they were lying to the nice chef. He followed them back to their room regardless, though he didn't try to hide his confused expression.

"Why'd you lie to Mr. Chef? He's nice." Luffy said with a bit of a pout. Still smiling Sabo ruffled Luffys hair.

"Ace and I were just playing a bit of a joke on him. Remember how Ruta mentioned he was playing a game with Mr. Chef?" Sabo asked, Luffy nodding with a perplexed expression on his face.

"We were just helping him win." Ace said with a shrug, also smiling. Understanding flashed across Luffy's face at this.

"Oh~! I get it!" Luffy said cheerily, his brothers shaking their heads at Luffy's simple thoughts.

"So how did you know that the chefs lighter was in the ropes?" Ace asked, still curious about it. Luffy beamed, clearly pleased with himself.

"I remembered it from when he helped us escape, so I smelled for it and found it in the ropes! It smelled like Mr. Chef which made me hungry, but it also smells like fire too." Luffy said, tacking on the last bit as more of an afterthought. Understanding showed on Ace and Sabo's faces now, wondering how they hadn't thought about that first.

"Well, be careful when you do that. You helped, which is good, but you can't lie so when someone questions you about it you could end up giving yourself away Lu." Sabo said, not in a chastising tone, but more of a tone of worry, not wanting his brothers' abilities to be found out. Luffy seemed to understand the weight of Sabo's words, nodding.

"We should probably teach you how to lie better or else Sabo's gonna have to save you every time." Ace said, folding his hands behind his head and laying down on the bed.

"But lying's bad..." Luffy said, remembering all the doctors who would lie to them, tell them that the shots wouldn't hurt, that they wouldn't feel a thing, that the medicine was helping them. The youngest shivered, his brothers noticing.

"Yes, lying can be bad, but sometimes, like when we had to lie about how you found the lighter, it's helpful," Sabo explained, Luffy slowly nodding in understanding. Sabo sighed.

"Well, if we're doing this, the first step, lying doesn't always have to be false information, maybe if you add a bit of truth in your words it'll be easier."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> The first day of the brothers officially being with the Whitebeards seems to have been successful. Now that the trio know they're going to be with the crew indefinitely, they're trying to at least make an effort to be a bit more comfortable around the crew. Of course, like always, these things are easier said than done. The brothers are still facing a whole lot of trauma that they haven't addressed to anyone but themselves yet, and there's a whole lot of Whitebeards, making it harder for them to even start getting comfortable around them.
> 
> Along with the brothers getting acquainted with their new home, I decided to throw in a little bit of Marcos perspective on the trio. He's been the one to keep the closest eye on them, so it makes sense that he would be the one to notice all the little things about the brothers, from their changed room to their tapping. He wont get any answers to these observations just yet, but that's not going to stop him from trying to find out anyways.
> 
> Also, I enjoyed the little prank that Haruta's playing on Thatch at the moment. In a lot of these kinds of stories, the author always has Thatch or Haruta as the two that play pranks on everyone. I wanted to have a bit of that in this story, just to have a bit of a break from all the heaviness that comes with the brothers and their past. I don't think I'll make their pranks as prevalent as others, but I might have people mention small things every once in a while, like Haruta's game.


	34. The New Normal

Sabo, per usual, was the first of the three to wake up the next day. Normally when it came to the Moby Dick one of the many pirates would walk by and wake the blonde up, but this time it wasn't a pirate, it was Luffy, his heavy breathing and rapidly beating heart tuned him into the fact that Luffy was once again having a nightmare.

It seemed the youngests' nightmares were getting worse and worse with each passing day.

Sighing Sabo sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and shaking the youngest, trying to rouse him from his slumber. Luffy was inbetween Ace and Sabo so when the blonde began shaking Luffy he pushed him into Ace, slowly waking the fiery teen as well.

"Wha's goin' on?" Ace mumbled, his eyebrows scrunching together as he sat up groggily, looking around.

"Lu's havin' a nightmare," Sabo responded, yawning. It was earlier then they would normally get up, still dark out which indicated it was either late at night or early in the morning.

Sabo focused his attention back on his brother, shaking him again and speaking softly to him while Ace tried to wake up enough to help. It took a few minutes this time to the point where Sabo was beginning to think Luffy might be stuck in his nightmare, but with a start, Luffy woke up. He didn't bolt up like before, but his eyes shot open in panic and he began breathing heavier, flickering his eyes around in confusion.

"Everythings ok Lu, jus' a nightmare." Ace said, very obviously still tired if the slight slur was anything to go on. Luffy sat up, trying to calm his breathing back down as Ace and Sabo sent him warm feelings, hoping to calm him down.

"Do you wanna go outside?" Sabo asked softly, knowing that had helped him last time, but this time Luffy shook his head, laying back down and burying his face in his pillow. Ace and Sabo looked at each other before slowly laying back down as well.

"You wanna talk about it?" Ace asked quietly. None of them had shared what they dreamt about, because they already knew what the nightmares were about, but Ace wanted to help the youngest in any way he could. Luffy shook his head though, curling into a tight ball and pulling the blankets up closer to him and forcing himself to try to go back to bed.

The nightmare had been a pretty bad one, worse than the night before, but Luffy was still tired and he didn't want to bother Ace and Sabo by forcing them to go outside again, especially not this early, or late, Luffy wasn't sure, in the day. Instead, the boy decided that he would just try and calm down and fall asleep, hoping that the feeling of Ace and Sabo at his side would help him.

He could tell that they were worried, he could feel it after all, and he tried ignoring those feelings, instead focusing on the warmth they were sending him, the love, the happiness. He basked in the feelings and allowed them to slowly calm him down.

He could tell when they fell asleep not too long after because their feelings became dulled slightly, almost nonexistent except for a small hint of a stronger emotion depending on the type of dream they were having.

Luffy turned so he was on his back and looked at the air in front of him, allowing himself to see Ace and Sabo's waves that were still visible, even in the dark of the room. He hadn't needed to look at his brothers' waves in a while, but seeing them now was comforting. The fact that he couldn't see through them at all now also comforted him, showing that both of his brothers were in good health, completely healed up after everything that had happened.

The youngest smiled slightly as he reached his hand up to swipe at the waves, though his hand merely passed right through them, the air not feeling any different, not that he expected it to. After staring at the waves a bit longer Luffy turned onto his side once more, closing his eyes with a smile on his face, his nightmare forgotten.

Ace and Sabo would keep him safe, even from his own nightmares.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The next time the brothers were waking up it was because it was breakfast time. Due to the wake-up call in the middle of the night, they weren't feeling all that refreshed, but it was nothing new to them so they got up and made their way to the galley.

Aces glares were just a hint harsher than normal, his mood a bit sour from the lack of sleep, and Luffy was even more timid than usual, clinging to Ace and Sabo as if it was his first time seeing the pirates. Sabo wasn't fairing much better either, his normally easy to force smiles now much harder to conjure up as he greeted overly chatty pirates trying to stop them for a conversation.

Apparently, now that the brothers were going to be here longer than anyone expected, that meant everyone wanted to try being their friends.

Every time they turned a corner there would be a different person trying to start up a conversation with them, but Sabo would just smile and politely inform them that they were heading to the galley and that they would talk later.

'I wish everyone would leave us alone.' Ace tapped, clearly irritated by everyone prying into the brothers' lives. Sabo sighed but felt himself feeling the same way.

'They're just trying to be friendly Ace, though they could be a little less...' Sabo trailed off, trying to find the right word.

'Annoying?' Ace supplied as he glared rather harshly toward someone who was seemingly making their way towards them.

'I was going to say eager.' Sabo said with an eye-roll. Ace huffed at that but didn't say anything more. Luffy had been listening to their tapping silently, gripping tightly onto their hands and staring at the ground.

Even though he had felt happy when he went to sleep, he had woken up and immediately remembered his nightmare from last night, which made him remember the facility, which made him remember all the horrible feelings he had felt when he was there. Even though he knew these pirates weren't going to hurt them, at least not unless they were provoked, he still had an inkling of a feeling that, at any moment, someone would grab them and strap them to chairs.

He shivered at the thought, staring even harder at the ground as they walked.

His brothers seemed to notice his shiver because he could feel the worry coming off of them, quickly replaced with warmth and love, the two feelings mingling together to put Luffy at ease.

When they finally reached the galley it was like a safe haven, because everyone in here was too preoccupied with their food to bother talking to them. Well, everyone except for the Commanders.

Sitting in their usual spot Sabo noticed that everyone was there now, even the Captain. As they ate breakfast their moods slowly started evening out, Aces glare softened back to how it normally was, Luffy wasn't clinging as tightly as before, and Sabo didn't feel so overwhelmed.

Luckily the commanders or Captain hadn't pulled any of them into a conversation, either because they noticed the brothers' moods or just because of chance, but as they were finishing up and getting leave that changed.

They had just stood up from the table, ready to slip away without anyone noticing, but Haruta had other plans. Seeing the brothers walking away the commander quickly shoveled some food in his mouth, uttering a quick, "Be right back," before chasing after the trio who were now leaving the galley, the doors swinging closed behind them.

"Hey, wait!" Haruta's shout had the brothers pausing as they saw the commander run out of the galley, smiling brightly to them. The brothers immediately tensed, wondering what was happening but waiting for the commander to speak before they did anything.

'Can we just ignore him?' Sabo shook his head a bit at Aces taps, feeling Luffy grab onto his hand, noticing he had grabbed Ace's as well.

'No Ace, that would just be rude, were not trying to make them hate us.' Sabo responded, squeezing Luffy's hand a bit in an attempt at comforting the boy. The youngest had just gotten over his nightmare from last night and this was not helping.

'Doesn't feel bad, feels happy.' Luffy tapped to his brothers, noticing no ill feelings coming from Haruta as he made his way over to the three, only joy. Sabo took this as a good sign.

"Commander, what do you need?" The blonde asked with a polite tone, though his body expression gave way to the tenseness he felt. Haruta continued smiling.

"Well, I wanted to thank you guys!" Haruta said cheerily, confusing the trio.

"For what?" Sabo asked, having no idea what Haruta would be thanking them for. The man's grin widened though as he explained.

"For yesterday! I totally would have lost my game if you hadn't distracted Thatch for me, so thanks!" Haruta said, and Luffy decided he liked the man, having felt only pure, happy feelings from him.

Understanding now what Haruta was talking about Ace and Sabo both relaxed, smiling a bit as well as they remembered.

"It was no big deal, we just overheard you telling the other Commanders about it and thought you would like to keep the game going," Sabo said, shrugging it off. Haruta laughed now, nodding.

"Yeah, it would be no fun if it stopped now. Anyways, thanks again, maybe I'll see you guys later! Oh, and you can call me H- wait, no, Ruta, you can call me Ruta, Commander's too formal." Haruta said, already waving and walking away as he spoke, leaving no time for a response. The trio watched him walk off before they began walking as well.

The deck was nearly clear of any pirates, all of them still in the galley eating breakfast, but that didn't mean that no one was out there. Sabo knew for a fact that there were people in the crows nests, he could hear them muttering to themselves or shuffling around, and there was a handful of people who had already finished their meal, lounging around on the deck.

'Can we sit on the rail?' Luffy asked, already looking towards their usual spot. Sabo looked at Ace, and when he nodded Sabo changed their direction to the railing.

'Sure Lu,' Sabo answered, the three of them quickly reaching the railing and assuming their normal positions.

They sat in silence, as usual, none of them finding any reason to speak. It was another beautiful day, and Sabo had to wonder when the weather would change because from what he remembered reading, Grand Line weather was never predictable and could change in a second.

Time passed quickly, and sitting, staring at the ocean, gave the brothers a good excuse not to talk to anyone, especially Ace seeing as he was pretending to be asleep.

Unfortunately, this didn't mean others were deterred from wanting to talk to them, and by the time breakfast was over the brothers were, per the usual, the center of attention, everyone practically buzzing around them. Sabo could hear their quiet chatter, many of them wanting to approach, but no one doing so. It was a bit irritating and it made all of them twitch nervously at the feeling of everyone's eyes on them, but that didn't stop them from trying to at least enjoy their time there.

It was strange because Sabo could remember not all that long ago when the three of them could barely leave their room without being on the edge of a panic attack, but now they were able to sit out on deck with, almost, no issue. They were still nowhere near ready to go walking and talking with these pirates, but it was already a dramatic change to how they had been when they first got there.

It definitely helped that Luffy had yet to feel the darkness or see even a hint of grey around anyone.

'Marco,' Sabo began turning around at Aces tap, ready to greet the Commander. Luffy continued facing the ocean, but he turned his head so he could watch Marco as well, taking note of his feelings, searching for anything bad.

'No bad feelings.' Luffy informed, relaxing Sabo a bit.

"Hello there Marco," Sabo said with a smile, Luffy sending the man one of his own while Ace continued to pretend he was asleep. Marco nodded back in greeting, going into his normal position for whenever he talked to the brothers by the railing.

"Did you want to talk about something?" Sabo asked, swinging his legs slightly to give a carefree air around him, even if he wasn't feeling that carefree at the moment. Luffy was swinging his legs as well, but he had been doing that the entire time, even before Marco had gotten there.

"Yes, actually. Oyaji and I were just discussing living arrangements, seeing as you three are staying much longer then we had first anticipated, yoi." Marco said, Sabo, nodding in understanding. Of course, this was going to have to come up sometime. The pirates hadn't been fully prepared to take in three teenagers who had serious issues, whether they knew about those issues or not.

"Of course. And?" Sabo asked, wondering where this conversation was going to go. Right before Marco responded though Sabo heard the faintest tap from Ace, drawing his attention to the fiery teen, though he kept his eyes locked on Marco.

'Sleep attack.' And just like that Aces body slumped down ever so slightly, breathing evening out. Sabo's lips pursed slightly, but if there was ever a time for Ace to have an attack on deck at least it was when everyone already thought he was sleeping.

'Ace fell asleep.' Sabo tapped covertly to Luffy, the boy nodding minutely back as he focused more on making sure no one got too close to Ace now.

"Well, seeing as we thought you three would only be here a few days we weren't equipped with clothing, shoes, or any other things you would need so we'll need to stock up on the next island for you, yoi." Marco started, Sabo nodding along as he kept his guard up, now extra tense seeing as Ace was down for the count. All he could do was hope that Ace wouldn't have a nightmare.

"Also, if you three would like separate rooms, we can arrange that," Marco said, and even though Sabo knew they were just trying to be accommodating he still felt a pulse of anger at the words, but kept calm on the outside, shaking his head.

"No, its fine, we'll continue sharing. Was there anything else?" Sabo asked, wanting to move on. Marco nodded, continuing.

"Yes, seeing as you're not apart of the crew we don't expect you to do anything like fighting or taking watch, but seeing as you'll be here indefinitely we decided that you should at least do some sort of chores like washing dishes, yoi," Marco explained, Sabo continuing to nod, keeping a close ear on Aces breathing.

"Of course, we expected to have to do at least that much," Sabo replied because they had. No pirate was going to take on three teens for free and let them laze around forever.

It was at this point that Sabo heard Aces breathing picking back up, and he nearly sighed in relief, noticing that the teen wasn't having a nightmare, rather he was waking up. Before Ace could panic about where he was or what was happening Luffy began tapping to him, telling him that they were still talking to lazy face, and seriously, Sabo had to stop that nickname.

"Anything else?" Sabo asked, wanting to go back to relaxing so he could catch Ace up. Marco sighed.

"Well, there's one more thing, yoi." Marco started, a bit hesitant. Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what Marco was about to say. Clearly, it was something that the man knew they weren't going to like hearing, but what that was, he had no idea.

Sensing the hesitance Ace and Luffy tensed up, not knowing what to expect but knowing it probably wasn't going to be good.

"What is it?" Sabo asked in as evenly a voice as possible. Marco sighed before he responded.

"We know that you all have a strong... disliking for doctors,yoi," The brothers involuntarily shivered at that but waited for Marco to continue.

"But seeing as you're going to be staying here it would be their job to help you if any of you got hurt. Because of that Whiskey just wants to get a bit of simple information, just enough to know if she should avoid certain procedures if she has to, yoi." Marco explained, watching the brothers carefully for their reaction.

The commander knew of the brothers near phobia of doctors but this information was necessary so that Whiskey would be able to better perform her job if needed. Marco also knew that the brothers weren't very giving when it came to information about themselves so Marco knew that this was going to be a task.

'No. Hell no.' Ace tapped out, still a bit groggy from his attack, but coherent enough to know exactly what was happening.

'We can't exactly deny!' Sabo replied, feeling a bit panicked at the corner they were in. Marco hadn't exactly been asking, more like telling the brothers that they had to do this, something none of them wanted to do at all.

'Don't wanna talk to the doctors.' Luffy said fear in his eyes as he turned to face the ocean, hiding his expression from the onlooking Commander.

'I know Lu, but there's nothing I can tell him without possibly making him mad.' Sabo said, feeling fear himself.

'Then make him mad, we're not talking to no doctor!' Ace responded, a scowl quickly making its way onto his face at the thought.

'We can't just make him mad Ace, we're going to be staying here for a while, remember?! We can't have them already hating us!' Sabo tapped back urgently, trying to keep it discreet and quiet enough that Marco wouldn't think much of it, but loud enough that Ace could hear it without seeing it.

'He's worried.' Luffy butt in, sensing the worry rolling off the Commander as he watched the brothers, his face not changing from his neutral expression.

'Of course he's worried, he's worried his plan will fail!' Ace tapped back.

'And what plan would that be Ace?' Sabo asked, nearly frowning.

'The plan where he gets on our good side and then stabs us in the back!' Ace replied, anger beginning to form in both the eldest brothers. Luffy started swinging his feet faster, worried that this was going to turn out worse then he would like.

He didn't want to talk to any doctor, but he didn't want Ace and Sabo fighting either. He didn't know which one was worse.

Luffy did his best to block the anger from entering him, but the only other feeling he could focus on was the worry coming from Marco and that wasn't helping either. Maybe he should try and feel the giant captains feelings and hope for the warmth, but he didn't know where he was, not having seen him leave the galley after breakfast and not seeing him in his chair.

His feet began moving even faster than before as the nervous energy built up within him.

"If we speak to her, can we do it out here? On the deck?" Sabo asked, trying to find a compromise that would put them at least a bit at ease. None of the brothers would want to go into the infirmary where they would just be bombarded with horrible memories and smells, but they also didn't want to talk to Whiskey in the first place.

'Sabo!' The anger was rising within Ace and it was becoming harder and harder for Luffy to ignore it.

"If that's what you would prefer I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Marco said, a bit of his worry disappearing at what sounded like an agreement to talk to Whiskey.

'We're. Not. Talking.' Aces taps were sharp and deliberate, but Sabo ignored them anyway, putting Luffy more on edge as he swallowed, glancing between his brothers nervously, not even bothered if Marco was watching or not.

"Then we'll answer to the best of our ability," Sabo said, but it came out almost forced like he didn't want to be saying it at all, which he didn't. Ace had to hold back a shout of outrage at that moment, ready to wring Sabo's neck for agreeing so easily.

Was that blonde idiot insane?! He was going to willingly give their information over to a doctor?! A rational part of the fiery teens brain told him that it wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking it would be, that he should trust Sabo in what he was doing, but all he could think about was the facility and how every single doctor there had hurt them every day just so they could get information about them.

What if Whiskey heard something and wanted to know more about it? Would she start doing tests on them? Would she have the pirates hold them down while she injected them with who knew what?

"That's good to hear, yoi. Do you want to do it right now?" Marco asked, slightly surprised that Sabo had agreed at all. Sabo hesitated, knowing he was pushing the limit on Aces anger.

"I think that would be best," Sabo said, Marco nodding, saying he would go get the nurse before walking away. Ace didn't even attempt to hide that he was awake anymore, opening his eyes and spinning a glare onto Sabo who gave a sheepish smile back.

'Sabo, what the hell?!' Ace tapped out, clearly furious. As much as the hot head wanted to scream at the blonde he held back, not wanting to draw any more unwanted attention to themselves.

'Ace, just listen-,'

' _Listen?!_ Sabo, you just agreed to talk to a doctor! Giving our information to a _doctor!_ ' Ace tapped with such speed and intensity that Sabo and Luffy almost couldn't understand it.

'Yes, but-'

'What if they end up hearing something they want to know more about?! Who's to say they won't strap us down and start testing on us here?!' Ace continued, not listening to anything Sabo was trying to say. Luffy knew it was going to happen, knew that all of Aces anger would flow into him, but he had been trying so hard to stop it.

'Ace-'

'This was a horrible idea! I should have never agreed to stay with these bastards!' Ace wasn't stopping for a second in his rant, glare still plastered on his face as he looked at Sabo. Luffy was watching with worry, feeling the anger slowly taking hold.

'Calm down!' Sabo finally got out, doing what he had done to Luffy by placing his hand on top of Aces, stopping any more taps from the eldest. Aces glare hardened at that and it was obvious he wanted to continue talking, probably yell at Sabo for even suggesting he ' _calm down_ '.

'You're going to get Luffy mad, do you want him charging off again? When there's a doctor on her way here to talk to us right now?' Sabo asked, sending Ace a stern look, gesturing to Luffy who was slowly going from nervous to angry, his features morphing into a glare as he stared at the sea.

The sight made Aces anger fizzle out, realizing what was happening. Even though they had promised they would listen to each other to stop from influencing Luffy he had gone and done the exact opposite.

'Sorry Lu.' Ace finally tapped remorsefully, placing a hand on Luffys shoulder. The anger slowly dissipated from Luffy now, the nervousness returning at once as the straw-hatted boy noticed what had nearly happened, and what was going to happen.

'Ace, I know you don't like it,' Sabo started, Ace scoffing quietly.

'What gave you that clue?' Ace asked causing Sabo to roll his eyes, but continue none the less.

'But, we have to. We can't exactly avoid it forever, and remember, you were the one saying we don't want them turning on us.' Sabo said, this time causing Ace to roll his eyes.

'Yeah, I also said we weren't going to tell them anything about our powers or the facility.' Ace countered.

'And we won't, we're just going to tell them harmless information, and if they start asking something too personal, I won't answer. Don't worry, you don't even have to look at the doctor if you don't want to.' Sabo said, knowing that even the sight would put them all on edge. Ace glared a bit at that though, crossing his arms.

'And let her stab you with a needle? No thanks. You do the talking, I'll do the watching.' Ace said, causing Sabo to grin, realizing Ace was finally becoming at least accepting that this was going to happen. Luffy felt some of his nervousness disappear at the fact that his brothers were getting along again, but any relief he felt quickly disappeared as he smelled the familiar burning stench of a doctor walking out onto the deck.

With the salty air and everyone else's smells the doctors' scent wasn't as overwhelming as normal, but it was still enough for Luffy to feel a bit of a headache.

'Doctors here.' Luffy tapped hesitantly, keeping his eyes locked firmly in front of him, watching the horizon. He didn't want to see the doctor, didn't want to remember everything that had happened at the facility. Ace and Sabo placed their hands on his shoulders.

'Don't worry Lu, you don't have to say or do anything, Ace and I will take care of everything.' Sabo tapped, noticing the nervous tension rising in the youngest. Luffy only responded with a nod, not saying anything else as they waited for Marco and the nurse to reach them.

"Hello there boys, I'm happy that you agreed to speak with me." Whiskey said with a smile, and Sabo knew she was trying to keep them calm but everything she did had the opposite effect. The smile morphed in Ace and Sabo's minds to be a devilish grin, the happiness in her voice turning sickly sweet, hiding her ulterior motives, the carefree way she moved, holding her clipboard becoming much more menacing to them.

There was a collective shiver from all three of the brothers, even Luffy who wasn't even looking. Just the smell and sound of the nurse was enough to unnerve him.

Regardless, Sabo swallowed thickly, forcing a smile onto his face as he shifted a bit on the railing. He still didn't feel up to speaking yet, even though that was all he was going to be doing, so he just nodded to the nurse, hoping she would continue on.

"I just need a bit of simple information, nothing too complicating. If you can't answer something that's fine, just try your best." She said, still keeping the chipper attitude. Sabo nodded again, still trying to find his voice. Ace, who was still standing, had his eyes narrowed, watching every minute movement the nurse was making, just waiting for her to grab a needle.

"Would you like Marco to leave? Normally we do this in my office where no one can listen in, doctor-patient confidentiality and all." Whiskey said, and Ace tilted his head a bit at that, having never heard the term before.

Well, he also hadn't ever seen a doctor before the facility, unless Magra counted as a doctor, which, in his mind, he didn't.

'A doctor can't give away anything we tell them, they have to keep it secret.' Sabo informed Ace, having read about it before. Ace nearly scoffed, remembering the facility where their information was thrown around without a care.

"Its fine, he can stay," Sabo said, taking into account that Luffy had deemed Marco a nice person in both feelings and color. If after hearing this his color started turning grey, then the brothers would know that they should probably leave the ship. If just a bit of information on the brothers had the first mate turning grey then what did that say about everyone else?

"Alright, then let's get started, we'll start off simple. Do you three have any allergies? Anything we should avoid?" She asked, holding her clipboard up, ready to take notes. Sabo shook his head, finally finding his voice.

"No, nothing we know of." He said. Whiskey nodded, writing stuff down before looking back up.

"Before the facility did you three see a regular doctor?" She asked, Sabo, answering with another no. Even though he had been born into nobility, he had only gone to a doctor a few times before he ran away. It wasn't exactly something he would call regular. Whiskey nodded, writing that down.

"Do any of you have a pre-existing medical condition that I should know about?" She asked, causing Sabo to hesitate a bit at that. He had already pushed Ace into allowing this conversation, and if he gave away the fact that he had narcolepsy to the nurse he was sure Ace would go ballistic.

Not that he wanted to tell the doctor in the first place, he was just worried that the nurse would find out and get mad that he had lied.

"No," Sabo said simply, not trusting himself to say any more than that. Whiskey bought it as easily as the other answers and Sabo practically sighed in relief, seeing Ace, who had tensed at the question, relax a bit as well, clearly having been worried about the same thing as him.

"Any medication that you three used before that you would need?" Whiskey continued, to which Sabo was able to answer much easier, giving another no.

The rest of the questions were much easier to answer, their height, an estimate on their weight, did anyone in their family have any medical issues that might show up in them later.

Of course, she had assumed that they had the same parents, but either way, Sabo answered a no on that one. They didn't know much about Luffys parents, and his own hadn't had any issues. Sabo decided it was best not to mention Aces parents either.

"Well, that seems to be about it, thank you three for answering." Whiskey said, smiling once more to the brothers.

'Colors?' Sabo grabbed Luffy attention with the tap, and even though Luffy did not want to look at the doctor he still forced himself to at least glance, focusing more on the colors surrounding the person rather than the person itself.

'Blue, no grey.' Ace and Sabo practically sighed in relief at the answer, both of them relaxing a bit.

"It was no problem, Mrs. Nurse, I'm glad we could help," Sabo said, able to force a smile easier knowing that the nurse would be leaving any second.

"Please, Whiskey is just fine." She said calmly, Sabo nodding, though he didn't plan on talking to her again any time soon. With that Whiskey was finally walking away, any tension the brothers had leaving as she disappeared into the depths of the Moby.

"Now that that's over, lunch should be ready soon, we can head in there now if you want, yoi," Marco suggested, nodding towards the galley. Sabo glanced at Ace and Luffy, both of them nodding in response.

"That would be nice, thank you, Marco," Sabo said, standing and smoothing out his clothes as Luffy got off the railing as well, Ace stretching a bit. Marco nodded and began walking to the galley, and Sabo had to take a second to realize that they felt more relaxed around Marco then anyone else here.

Maybe it was because the man didn't show any outward interest in the brothers? Everyone else was always staring at them, always talking about them when they thought they couldn't hear, but Marco never did any of that unless he was discussing accommodations for the brothers. He didn't oggle the brothers like they were sideshow attractions, and he didn't force them into anything they didn't want to do, besides the whole answer a nurse's questions thing.

Sabo shrugged this off and began following the commander, his brothers close at his side as he did.

No matter how relaxed he felt around the man he still wasn't all that trusting of him. The possibility that he was just trying to get on their good side was still there, and not to mention, it only took one wrong thought to change a clear blue aura to grey.

The brothers and Marco made their way to the galley, only a few people in there, and Marco went to the kitchen, telling the brothers he would be right back. Izo was the only one sitting at the commanders' table so the brothers didn't feel all that nervous when they went to sit down.

Izo greeted the three with a smile, one that Sabo returned, before they returned to silence, Izo working on something in his lap. The four sat in silence, but seeing as there was no one to be worried about Ace and Luffy were much more relaxed than normal, not needing to keep their guard up as much. Because of this, Luffy was becoming more and more interested in what Izo was working on, smelling something that he recognized to belong to the commander with the cool mustache.

'Ne, whats lady-not-lady doing?' Luffy asked, trying not to stare so he didn't draw the mans attention, but still extremely curious. Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy for a second before turning their attention to Izo, though they were unable to see whatever it was seeing as the man was sitting on the other side of the table.

'I don't know Lu, I can't see.' Sabo said, causing Luffy to pout as he waited for lunch to be ready. Within a few more minutes Marco was walking back out of the kitchen, Thatch close behind, the both of them holding food for the brothers which they set down in front of them.

"Thank you, commanders." Sabo thanked politely, Ace and Luffy already digging in.

"No problem! So, what have you three been up to? Anything interesting?" Thatch asked, sitting across from them at the table, beside Izo.

"Nothing all that interesting," Sabo said simply, beginning to eat as well. Thatch sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, it's been a bit of a bore here in Paradise. Maybe things will pick up soon." Thatch said wistfully, resting his head in his hand. Marco and Izo both rolled their eyes.

"You should be grateful for this moment of relaxation Thatch, it means you've got no paperwork for the moment," Izo mumbled, still clearly concentrated more on the thing in his lap rather than the conversation. Thatch groaned.

"Yeah, but now there's just... nothing to do!" Thatch whined.

"There is lunch that you should be helping make," Marco said offhandedly as he sat at the table as well, having been standing before. Thatch shook his head but stood from the table now.

"A bunch of party poopers is what you two are." Thatch whined sadly as he began trudging away.

"Well, goodbye you three, maybe the next time I see you things will have picked up again!" Thatch called, already disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Don't mind him, he can be... overdramatic to put it lightly," Izo said to the brothers, sending them a small smile before returning to his task, whatever that was.

"That's alright, we don't mind the theatrics," Sabo said, returning the smile. It was much easier to keep a conversation with the pirates when there was only a small group. Less overwhelming, less stressful. Sabo felt he had a lower chance of making anyone angry if only a few people were listening rather than tens and hundreds.

"Well, that's good, Thatch is known for being theatrical," Izo said, pulling the thing in his lap a second before raising it, smiling brightly.

"There, finished." He said, holding up a white glove that Sabo vaguely recognized.

"Nice work as always Izo, yoi." Marco complimented, examining the article. The brothers, though, we're still confused.

"Did you make it?" Sabo asked, the commanders' attention turning to him at the question, making him a bit uncomfortable. Izo shook his head, placing the glove on the table.

"No, I just mended it. Its Vistas glove actually, he ripped it so he asked me to fix it for him." Izo informed. Sabo glanced at the object, nodding.

"You must be pretty good then, I can't even tell it was ripped in the first place." Sabo complimented. Izo beamed, looking pleased by the compliment.

"Well, of course, I've had many years of practice, but I can do much more than just mending. I'm good at embroidering and even making clothes, like yours," Izo said, nodding to the clothes that they were wearing that day, ones that Izo had given them when they first got their room. Sabo raised an eyebrow, Ace and Luffy listening but not really following along.

"Really? That's impressive." Sabo said, genuinely meaning it. Izo smiled to him again and the conversation died off there.

It didn't take long for the brothers to finish their lunch and for them to be out of the galley right as the rest of the pirates onboard began heading in for their own lunch.

The brothers spent most of their time that afternoon exploring the ship again, Luffy enjoying the giant figurehead, Sabo and Ace having to keep him from jumping up onto it, knowing that the surface was slick from the ocean spray, and knowing Luffy he would fall in.

By the time it was nearing dinner the three had explored the entire deck, deciding that tomorrow they might go explore the inside of the ship, and Sabo remembered they never did finish Izo's tour.

The pirates were milling around the deck again, and Sabo recognized a few of the commanders that happened to be out as well. Whitebeard was even out now too, having been gone from the deck earlier.

The brothers had decided that they were going to head to their room for a bit, maybe take a nap, but as they were descending the stairs from the upper deck a particularly strong gust of wind came and blew Luffy's hat off his head before he could grab it.

"Hat!" Luffy cried, Ace and Sabo having to grab onto Luffy before he could fling himself after it. The straw hat had been blown over the railing, the brothers watching as it landed on the water, already beginning to float away from the Moby.

"Ace, Sabo, my hat!" Luffy cried in dismay, and the brothers felt their hearts practically breaking. They knew that that hat was extremely important to Luffy, they knew that it was a major source of comfort for the boy, and without it, they knew Luffy wouldn't be nearly the same.

"I wouldn't worry so much." Thatch's voice clued them in that others had noticed their brothers predicament. They turned to see that nearly everyone was now looking at them, Thatch, Marco, and Izo standing near them.

"But my hat..." Luffy said softly, watching the straw hat floating even further away now. He was barely containing his tears, wanting nothing more than to stretch his arm out and grab it, but knew that would only upset Ace and Sabo and get them into trouble.

"Its ok Luffy, Namur's already going after it, yoi." At Marcos words, there was a splash in the water and the brothers could see the Fishman swimming after the object, filling them with relief.

"It's pretty important to you, huh?" Izo asked, Luffy nodding fast with a stern look on his face.

"Mm." He hummed, everyone watching as Namur swam back, someone sending down the rope ladder for him. Luffy smiled widely, running up to the Fishman with no regard to the fact that someone could hurt him in that moment.

Ace and Sabo were shocked for a moment as they saw their brother from seven years ago, smiling carefree, running up to strangers without worrying about possible consequences, but as fast as it had come, it was gone, the timid Luffy returning within seconds after taking the hat from Namur.

"Ah, um... thank you..." Luffy said meekly, realizing he had run away from Ace and Sabo. He also noticed he was the center of attention at the moment and that did nothing to help the sudden anxiety welling inside him.

"It was no problem Luffy," Namur said kindly, smiling softly to the boy who gave him a small smile back, suddenly remembering what Sabo had taught him and bowing a bit before rushing back to his brothers' sides, clinging the straw hat tightly in his hands. Sabo ruffled Luffys hair, sending him happy feelings and praise, proud that he had remembered to bow, while Ace patted his back a bit, feeling the same as Sabo.

"Hey Luffy, could I see your hat for a moment? I promise I'll give it right back." Izo said, and everyone could see the apprehension on Luffys face as he looked from his hat, then back to Izo. After a few moments, Luffy handed the hat over a bit uneasily, even though Izo was smiling and only feeling calm feelings.

Once the special object was in Izo's hands the brothers watched him carefully, ready to take the hat back if he started damaging it, but instead, Izo pulled a white string from his pocket, securing it to the hat. He placed it on Luffy's head, tying the string for him.

"There, now you won't lose your hat anymore," Izo said, standing back and allowing the brothers to see it. Luffy beamed, holding the string in his fingers.

"Wow! Thanks, lady-not-lady!" Luffy thanked happily, letting his nickname for the man slip out. Izo laughed at that.

"It was no problem, we wouldn't want you losing it anymore," Izo said, Luffy nodding in agreement.

"Ne, Ace, Sabo, look, now hat can't fly away anymore!" Luffy said happily, holding the string up to show his brothers. They both smiled to him, nodding.

"You're right Lu, that's pretty cool." Ace agreed, which only made Luffy beam even more.

"Thank you Izo, that was extremely kind of you," Sabo said, bowing to the commander in thanks, Luffy doing the same along with Ace.

"It was no problem, really," Izo said, waving of the gratitude. After that the brothers began walking back to their room, the pirates all returning to their usual activities.

"Pfft, Izo, I didn't know we could call you lady-not-lady!"

"Thatch, I swear to Kami, if you start calling me that you'll regret it."


	35. Bad Day

Multiple times throughout the night the brothers were woken up because Luffy would have a nightmare. Instead of having the one nightmare and then a peaceful sleep, the youngest had been plagued with them every time he closed his eyes and no matter how hard he tried getting a restful sleep it didn't work.

Ace and Sabo were definitely feeling the effects. Every time they woke up to Luffy's thrashing, or whimpering, or sometimes even screaming, they would feel tireder than the last time. By the time light was finally starting to shine in their room the three had given up on trying to fall back asleep, instead deciding to get up for the day despite the fact that none of them felt as if they had gotten any sleep.

Today marked the second week since the three had escaped the facility, two whole weeks that they had been on the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, and even though they made progress in terms of physical recovery, they had barely moved an inch when it came to mental recovery.

The trio were sitting in bed, all with their eyes closed, yet not falling asleep, just trying to relax a bit before breakfast was ready.

Sabo vaguely realized that he was starting to drift off again but couldn't find it in himself to care as his senses slowly began dulling, the haziness of sleep beginning to take over his mind, and he happily welcomed it.

Only seconds after this though a noise caught his attention, and he shot up in bed, eyes wide with panic and breathing suddenly much faster then it had been before. The suddenness of Sabo's movements made Ace and Luffy jump up as well, thinking something was happening, but after a few seconds with Sabo saying nothing the blonde slowly began to calm down, slowly slumping back into the mattress.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked softly, concerned as to what had just happened. He had felt the sheer terror coming from his older brother, which had unknowingly influenced him into feeling it as well, but now the blonde was calming down. That didn't explain what had happened though.

"Hey, you ok?" Ace asked softly when Sabo didn't respond to Luffy. Finally, Sabo nodded, letting his eyes shut again.

"Yeah, 'm fine, just heard a rolling cart," Sabo muttered, and just like that Ace and Luffy understood. The two nodded, also lying back down to get a little bit of rest while they could. Luffy was terrified of falling asleep again, not wanting to have another nightmare, so he stared at the ceiling silently.

When Sabo had been drifting off he hadn't been in the right state of mind, so when he heard a rolling cart that sounded just like the food cart in the facility he had panicked, his brain thinking he had to get his brothers up, get them ready for another day of testing.

Eventually, the day started and Sabo informed them that they should leave for breakfast. Like yesterday all three of them were on edge, reverting back to how they had been their first day on the Moby, but instead of getting better after breakfast the unease stayed.

Luffy was extremely timid, not wanting to move even an inch away from his brothers in fear that something would happen. All of the nightmares he had had were replaying in his head, and even though he knew it was illogical for some of the dreams to happen, that didn't make him any less scared of them.

Ace was also even more on guard, spinning to see every minute movement. He knew it was bad when a fly buzzed by and he nearly flamed his fist up to attack it as if it were a weapon.

Sabo wasn't any better than the other two, using his hearing to listen to anything and everything, paranoid that someone was going to somehow sneak up on them even though it was nearly impossible to with how guarded and tense the three were.

The lack of sleep that night wasn't doing any of them any favors and it seemed the Whitebeard pirates knew something was up. It wasn't hard to figure out with how twitchy and jumpy the three were throughout breakfast, but no one knew what to do, not wanting to upset the brothers. Some suggested getting a nurse but that was ultimately decided to end up doing more harm than good so instead, they decided to give the three a bit of space.

It was conflicting for the brothers, because more than anything they wanted to be left alone, but at the same time they didn't want to go back to their room where they would be confined in such a small space. They were exhausted, but they wanted, _needed_ , the fresh air, the feeling of being able to move around.

In the end, the brothers ended up going to their usual spot at the railing, assuming their normal positions and trying to relax.

Of course, the key word there was trying.

Even as they forced themselves to enjoy the view of the ocean, or being able to lay down in Aces case, they were still buzzing with nervous energy, feeling as if any second something was going to happen

Within a few minutes Ace was falling victim to another sleep attack, and that did nothing to help Sabo and Luffy relax, the three even more wired than before as they focused on making sure no one got too close to them or Ace. Sabo was aware of the fact that Ace's sleep attacks were getting worse, this being the third day in a row in which he'd had one, but he also knew that it was because of the lack of sleep and the high emotional state he'd been in recently.

Sadly, it didn't seem like things were going to get any better. If Luffy's nightmares continued this way none of them would get any sleep, and the fact that they were going to be on the Moby for a while surrounded by possibly murderous pirates wasn't going to help Ace calm down from his overly stressed state anytime soon either.

Eventually, Ace was waking back up, dazed and confused as he tried to figure out where he was and what was happening. Sabo calmed him down before he did anything too drastic, telling him where they were and that he had fallen asleep.

Unlike yesterday it seemed the sky was finally beginning to see a change in weather as Sabo could see dark clouds on the horizon and Sabo couldn't help but snort at how fitting it was, for this to be the day where it finally gets stormy. His brothers gave him questioning looks but he ignored them, watching the ocean again.

More and more time passed, though not nearly as fast as the brothers would have liked. Unlike usual where they would at least communicate with each other through their silent language, today they weren't saying anything to one another, but that was ok. None of them were up for conversation, instead wanting to mull over their own anxieties alone.

But even that came to an end when one pirate came running out from below deck.

Any other time the brothers would have glanced at him, noticed he wasn't running towards them, or even in their general direction, and went back to what they were doing, but this time was different.

"Ne, Haruta, guess what?!"

The brothers froze at the name, and with their already high stress and anxiety, the sound of that mans name at the beginning of the commanders' name tipped them just over the edge.

Most of the pirates had noticed that, around the brothers, Haruta was called Ruta, but apparently that pirate hadn't gotten the memo. Now there were many eyes on them, everyone wondering how the trio would react to the name.

Much like the first time they had heard it they were frozen, lost in their own memories of the facility. Luffy was beginning to shake and Ace was so tense it was beginning to hurt, while Sabo was gripping the railing so tight he was afraid it was going to snap beneath him. No words were spoken, Ace merely stood up, grabbed Luffy's hand, pulled him off the railing, and walked away, Sabo close behind.

They were walking in such a zombified manner that it stunned some pirates, watching as the three disappeared below deck. It had gone silent, no one wanting to speak, but the sound of the door shutting shocked them out of their stupor.

"Ah... I forgot it was Ruta now..."

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Today was definitely not the day for this.

Ace was still trying to shake himself out of the memories of the facility, annoyed that this was even happening at all. He was out of there, this shouldn't be happening anymore! He had nothing to worry about, it's not like those people could come get him right now!

But they could. These pirates had seen the facility, had defeated the doctors. What if it was all a show? What if they contacted the doctors and one day they would wake up right back in their cell again?

But it had been two weeks now, why would the pirates wait that long? Maybe the facility was rebuilding itself and would come get the brothers when it was ready.

No matter how outlandish the idea was, Aces brain managed to rationalize it enough that he believed it, became paranoid that the possibilities would come true, that, one day, they would see Harus ugly face again.

Sabo and Luffy weren't any better then he was, Sabo thinking the exact same thoughts as Ace, wondering if this was all some elaborate trick, that the pirates really would betray them and send them back. There was no way of knowing for sure, no way of knowing that they wouldn't send them back once they realized the brothers were too difficult to take care of.

Luffy was even worse though, still shaking from having heard Haruta's name. The triggering word had sent him into a pit of thoughts and memories that he couldn't climb out of. He was suddenly remembering his every moment in the facility, how painful every shot was, every cut, every test, how cold the cells were, how gross and slimy the doctors' feelings were. He was even remembering his nightmares from last night, things that hadn't happened but had seemed so real that Luffy didn't know if they were repressed memories or something his brain made up to scare him.

Had they done that test to see if he could regrow limbs, or had that been a figment of his imagination? Could he really jump super high because of a painful stimulant they had put into his legs or was that fake too? It was getting difficult for Luffy to differentiate his nightmares from his memories.

None of the brothers could snap out of it. They were stuck in their own heads, stuck back in a facility that they had escaped from.

They didn't know how long they sat there in their room, stuck, but when the ship suddenly started violently rocking it was enough to sober up Sabo, the blonde looking around in dazed confusion.

He could hear a commotion outside along with a loud patter of something on the deck.

Oh, it was storming.

Apparently, those dark storm clouds he had seen earlier had finally reached the Moby and now the pirates were fighting their way through it. He could hear some commanders ordering others on what to do so they could get out safely and used that to ground himself.

He wasn't at the facility, he was on the Moby. Sure these pirates could betray them, send them back, but right now they weren't, and if they did, they would deal with it then. They wouldn't go back, they would do everything in their power to not go back. Besides, now they had Garp and Shanks on their sides, they would help them if they were taken again.

Slowly returning back to reality Sabo noticed that Ace and Luffy were most definitely not in the same reality as him.

It took a bit of coaxing but he had eventually gotten Ace out of his trance, the two of them working together to get Luffy out of it who was much further gone then they had been. It took a bit of time and a lot of effort but they did it, the three of them listening to the crashing waves and pelting rain outside. Ace and Luffy were even able to hear some of the pirates shouting too. The three laid on the bed, trying to relax a bit.

"Today's been a shitty day," Ace muttered, Luffy and Sabo nodding in agreement.

"We just didn't get enough sleep. It messed us up." Sabo said with a sigh.

"Sorry," Luffy mumbled meekly, Ace and Sabo sending him warm feelings at how small his voice sounded.

"Its fine Lu, it's not your fault." Ace said, Sabo, nodding in agreement. Luffy pouted.

"But I kept waking you guys up, so it is my fault," Luffy said, feeling bad that he had woken his brothers up so many times throughout the night. He wasn't a kid, he should be able to get over his own nightmares, but he couldn't.

"But you can't control what dreams you have, can you?" Sabo asked, Luffy shaking his head no.

"See, so it wasn't your fault. Everyone has nightmares, and after everything, we've been through we just get them much easier and more often than normal people. That's all." Sabo said, cheering Luffy up a bit.

"Now, speaking of sleep, why don't we try to take a nap?"

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

It was now much later in the day, almost time for dinner, lunch having come and gone. The commanders were all in a meeting with Whitebeard, discussing their next course of action. When they had found the brothers at the facility they had been restocking after having helped one of their islands, but now they needed to get back to the New World before the marines got too twitchy about them being in the calmer waters.

It was agreed that they would land at one more island before Sabaody so that they could restock again, as well as get the necessary items for the brothers.

"I made them enough clothes for a week, so they must have already gone through everything by now. I don't have any more fabric to make more clothes so that should definitely be top priority in terms of things they need." Izo said, everyone, nodding in understanding while Marco wrote things down, putting that at the top of the brothers' list.

"And Ace and Luffy eat a lot more than anyone else, we'll have to up our food budget to accommodate that," Thatch added, eliciting more nods from the group.

"Other than that we should restock the med bay. After helping all those kids from the facility we're starting to run low on supplies." Blamenco finished. The meeting had been long, but that was normal, especially when they were making lists for restocking. Now that everything was done the commanders began relaxing, chatting about the day they'd had.

"Did you notice how tense the brothers were today?" At Rakuyos question all attention turned to him, everyone suddenly invested in the topic.

"Yeah, how could you not, they looked ready to bolt the entire day!" Haruta said, though there was worry laced in his tone as he remembered how on edge the trio had been all day.

"I wouldn't say bolt. Remember when Jack said your name Haruta? They walked off like they were sleep walkin'!" Atmos said, many nodding as they remembered.

"Their reaction to your name was much stronger today than it had been before," Namur noted, remembering back to the first time the three had heard it.

"They must have been having a bad day today, yoi," Marco said, still writing things down on his list.

"Yes, those three did look troubled the entire day today." Whitebeard agreed, having been keeping a closer eye on the brothers today, worried about them with how they had been acting, almost as if they were cornered animals getting ready to snap.

After the Haruta incident though the brothers had stayed holed up in their room, not even coming out for lunch. Of course, this worried everyone even more, but when the platter of food that Thatch had left outside their door ended up empty the Captain decided not to send the nurses after them, rather let them stay in their room for the time being.

Obviously, they needed the solitude, a place where they wouldn't be disturbed, and if he sent the nurses after them, even with good intentions, that would only make it worse. The brothers, like every other child they had saved from the facility, had an obvious disliking towards the nurses and needles, and if they were having a bad day because of the things that had happened in the facility, nurses were the last thing they needed.

Whitebeard sighed, watching as his children began talking amongst themselves once more. He hoped that one day the three would open up, be comfortable enough that they could act like normal children without worry.

He knew that it wouldn't happen overnight, that it would be a long time coming, but if they continued to help the brothers he hoped that they would see that they weren't going to hurt them, that they didn't want them to be scared of them. Everyone on the Moby was family, and those three weren't an exception, many already thinking of them as brothers even though they weren't officially apart of the crew.

Family helps each other get over trauma, and that's what they were going to do for the brothers. They wouldn't push them, they'll let them open up on their own, but they weren't going to shy away from them either, they were going to show those three that not everyone in this world was a bad person.

Now they just had to hope that tomorrow was a better day then today had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> A bit of insight on the crews thoughts at the end there. The brothers had a bit of a rough time this chapter, but I wanted to show that the three of them all of lasting trauma after going through what they did, and even though its obvious in their changed personalities, I wanted to show its more then that. Trauma is difficult to get past, especially when it was their whole lives for seven years. Nightmares, triggering memories/words/thoughts, and paranoia are things that the brothers all have to get past.
> 
> Another reason was to show how much the brothers have changed since they've been on the Moby. It hasn't been much, but compared to how they used to be, its definitely an improvement, even if it isn't all that obvious yet. This bad day was just a bit of a set back to their healing process, and before we know it the three of them will be acting just like they used to when they were kids. It may take a bit of time, but like I said before, trauma isn't easy to get over.


	36. Luffy's Questionnaire

The next day began much better than the previous. Although Luffy still had a nightmare it was only once, when they were already waking up anyways. Now that they were fully rested they all felt much better then before, the edge they had been on yesterday gone as if it hadn't happened.

The three laid in bed, waking up still, all of them staring at the ceiling with barely open eyes.

"'S breakfast done yet?" Ace asked in a mumble. Sabo listened for a second before nodding.

"Thatch just finished. If we go now we'll get there before everyone starts crowding in," Sabo said, already dragging himself up into a sitting position. Ace groaned but also sat up, already missing the feeling of the comfy mattress and warm blankets. Luffy sat up as well, doing so silently, and stood up, stretching his arms over his head just a bit further than a normal human would be able to.

The fact that the boy hadn't used his devil fruit powers once in front of the pirates was something that continued to amaze Ace and Sabo, having expected him to use them without thinking, but that wasn't the case. Sabo was reminded of the fact that Luffy had also managed to fool everyone into thinking he was a mute because they told him not to talk to anyone, and suddenly he wasn't as surprised.

Not using his powers though seemed to be putting a strain on the youngest, because whenever they were alone Luffy would stretch his arms or legs, using his fruit in the process, making the brothers think that maybe he was more bothered about it then they thought.

The three walked to the galley, ignoring any looks they got from curious pirates. After they had heard Haruta's name yesterday they had shut themselves in their room, not even coming out for meals. Luckily Sabo noticed that Thatch had been kind enough to leave a platter outside their door for them at lunch and then for dinner as well.

The brothers had definitely not been expecting it, thinking the pirates wouldn't want to waste food on them if they weren't in the galley to eat it, so when the chef did it they felt a bit better, even if their day had been horrible until then. Sabo was going to make sure to thank the chef when he could, grateful that he had fed them.

The brothers knew they were going to be staying with the pirates for a while now, they knew that they should at least become... friendly with them, but there was that piece of them, warning them that the second they started getting closer, they would be betrayed.

Of course, no matter how close they got to anyone, they weren't going to tell them anything about their powers, because that would just be opening the door for betrayal.

The brothers could try and be distant forever, but how long would it be until the pirates got fed up with them and turned? That wasn't something the three wanted to risk, so if they could avoid it, they would.

"Hey, you three made it!" As they entered the galley Thatch was the first to notice, smiling brightly as he set a plate on the table, probably food for himself. Sabo smiled at the man, nodding as he and his brothers went to the table and sat down.

"We did," Sabo said as Thatch ran back to the kitchen, coming out with food for the brothers.

"Well, I'm glad you could make it! We missed you yesterday." Thatch said, making Sabo feel a bit uncomfortable at the mention of their bad day yesterday.

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that, we were a bit... out of it yesterday, didn't get enough sleep I guess," Sabo explained, quickly eating to get himself out of the conversation. Thatch nodded in understanding, sitting down and picking up his fork.

"That's understandable. Well, anyway, we're all glad you're feeling better then." Thatch said, waving his arms out to gesture to the few other commanders who were at the table with them. Seeing as breakfast was only just finished there was only a handful of commanders there, the ones who usually got there early. Izo, Marco, and Jozu all nodded in agreement with Thatch's previous statement, all with food of their own.

Ace and Luffy were back to being on guard during breakfast, the crowd of pirates slowly filing into the room until nearly everyone was there. The rest of the commanders and the Captain were here as well now, everyone having their usual, joyful conversations while the trio tried to stay as out of the way as possible, not wanting to get involved in any conversations.

As they did this though Sabo remembered how he had wanted to thank Thatch for giving them food yesterday when they didn't show up for meals. Waiting for a chance where the chef wasn't talking or being called back into the kitchen Sabo finally spoke up.

"By the way, Mr. Chef," Sabo piped up eventually, drawing his brothers' attention. They hadn't expected Sabo to initiate any conversations, and from the looks of it, Thatch hadn't either.

"Really, just Thatch is fine, what's up?" Thatch asked, turning his attention to the blonde. The brothers were just finishing their breakfast so Sabo found this was the best time to have this conversation. If they needed to leave, they could.

"We just wanted to thank you for giving us food yesterday, seeing as we didn't come here to eat," Sabo said with a genuinely grateful tone. Realizing what Sabo was talking about Ace and Luffy relaxed, both nodding their thanks to the man as well who still looked a bit surprised.

"Oh, that? It was no big deal, besides, as long as you're on the Moby you're not gonna go hungry! Not when I'm your chef!" Thatch boasted proudly with a smile. Sabo smiled at the thought, nodding to the happy chef as some of the commanders laughed around them at Thatch's antics.

"Wait, so how did you know it was me?" Thatch asked after the laughter died down.

"Ah," Sabo started, he and his brothers standing up, getting ready to leave.

"You have loud footsteps," Sabo said, flashing the chef a smile, waving as they walked away, leaving a confused chef behind.

"They're not that loud are they... ne, Fossa, do I have loud footsteps?" Sabo snickered to himself, Ace smiling and Luffy much more relaxed then he had been so far on this ship.

It was true though, out of all the people on this ship Sabo had noticed that Thatch's footsteps were a bit heavier and louder than most, making it easy to identify the man whenever he walked by.

Now that they were done with breakfast and feeling much better then they had yesterday the brothers decided to do a bit of exploring. Even though they never finished that tour with Izo they didn't want to bother the man who was still eating breakfast so they decided to just walk around and see what they could find inside the Moby.

The trio had only really gone through the hallway where their room was, and although Ace and Sabo had explored a bit when looking for Luffy when he ran off they hadn't been paying much attention. Seeing as everyone was in the galley the three didn't see any harm in speaking aloud, especially since Sabo would be able to hear anyone coming. The three talked about mindless things for a while until Sabo remembered Luffy's penchant for nicknaming the Commanders.

"By the way Luffy, you should at least learn the names of the Commanders," Sabo said after Luffy once again mentioned Marco by using the nickname lazy face as they walked. Luffy pouted, clearly unhappy with what Sabo had just suggested.

"But those are their names," Luffy whined, crossing his arms where he stood in between Ace and Sabo.

"No they aren't Lu, they're weird nicknames that you made up." Ace dead panned, causing Luffy to pout further.

"So what if they are, they're easier to remember," Luffy mumbled, kicking his foot against the ground. Sabo sighed, shaking his head.

"Yes, but sometimes your nicknames can make people a little... unhappy, even if you don't think they would." Sabo tried explaining, knowing that Luffy meant no harm in his nicknames, but sometimes they could be taken offensively to the people he said them to.

"What do you mean?" The youngest asked, confused.

"You know how you get mad whenever Shanks calls you anchor?" Ace asked, Luffy nodding.

"Yeah, it's not my fault I sink!" Luffy said, remembering the nickname. Ace held back a laugh, nodding.

"See, that nickname upsets you, just like some of your nicknames upset others, even if you don't realize it." Ace said, Luffy finally seeming to understand.

"Oh~! I get it now! So I should learn their names then!" Luffy said determinedly, Sabo smiling gratefully to Ace, to which the eldest gave a smug smile back.

"That's right Lu, for starters, Marcos the first commander, not lazy face," Sabo said, Luffy frowning as he tried to remember the name, nodding.

"I still think lazy face is better though..." Luffy mumbled after a minute, causing Ace to laugh. Sabo glared at him.

"You're not helping Ace. I know you might think its better Lu, but that's not his name, its Marco." Sabo said again, saying the name slowly in hopes that his brother would catch onto the name and stick to it.

And that's how the conversation went. As they familiarized themselves with the inside of the Moby Sabo taught Luffy a few of the commanders' names, the ones they normally talked to, like Thatch, Marco, Izo, and Namur.

He let Haruta's nickname slide for obvious reasons.

By now breakfast was over and they were passing more and more pirates so the brothers decided to talk silently rather than out loud as they explored. The Moby was definitely big and they were getting a bit tired and disoriented after everything they'd explored so far so they decided to try and find their way back to the deck, Luffy using his sense of smell while Sabo used his hearing and Ace kept an eye out for anything weird.

When they finally reached the deck Ace and Sabo were about to head to the railing when Luffy stopped them, tilting his head as he stared across the deck.

'What is it Lu?' Sabo asked, looking across the deck to try and figure out what Luffy was looking at. Ace did the same, waiting for a response.

'Can we go near Big Mustache Captain?' Luffy asked, staring at the giant captain. Ace and Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at each other.

'You wanna go near the Captain?' Ace asked for clarification. Luffy looked hesitant, eyebrows scrunching in thought.

'No... but he has a lot of warm feelings and no one else has had warm feelings besides Ace and Sabo...' Luffy said, having been curious about that since he first figured out that the Captain contained a lot of the warm feeling. The two oldest seemed hesitant, but they were also curious about that as well.

None of them had figured out how someone felt the warm feeling, but none of the doctors had had it. After a while Ace and Sabo had been able to figure out how to send that feeling to Luffy to calm him down, but that had taken a lot of trial and error and a lot of meditating to help them figure out where the feeling was coming from in the first place, so for the Captain to have such an abundance of it was a bit confusing.

'As long as you don't let the warm feeling influence yourself too much.' Sabo said, Luffy nodding in agreement. With that said the three made their way along the railing, towards the Captain but not getting too close. They eventually sat on the railing in their usual positions some feet away from the Captain, close enough that they could easily see him, but not close enough that the man could reach them if he tried.

The pirates noticed the brothers' change in location but said nothing, opting to instead give them curious stares as they went on with their duties. The trio ignored them though, Sabo pretending to look at the clouds with Luffy again while Luffy started trying to decipher the Captain's feelings.

He couldn't find even a hint of any bad feelings in the man, no anger, frustration, annoyance, not even a feeling of being tired. The only thing that the Captain was feeling were happy feelings, joy, pride, contentment, love, and of course the warm feeling. It confused Luffy because these were pirates, and he had never felt anyone feel these feelings without the slimy greed behind all of them.

Luffy let himself take in just a small bit of the warmth that the Captain was sending out, amazed when even that much made him want to feel more. He remembered what Sabo said though and forced himself to stop, instead trying to focus on the other feelings, searching as far as he could for even a hint of dark feelings, because surely no one else but his brothers could feel only good emotions, right?

The Captain was an enigma to Luffy, a puzzle he couldn't solve, something too good to be true. He decided to take down one of his walls to see if the Captains soul had changed color at all, looking for even a trace of grey in the vastly blue aura. Finding none the straw-hatted teen slumped a bit, not understanding.

Were his powers defective? Surely these pirates weren't all nice! Maybe the doctors had messed up and he only saw a few peoples true feelings. Maybe he only saw happy feelings in people he'd never met before.

He didn't have any explanation for what was happening, because the Captain couldn't possibly be this good of a person, right?

Mind made up Luffy jumped down from the railing, ignoring the shock and surprise coming from Ace and Sabo as they both got to their feet as well, moving closer to him. Determined Luffy walked down the stairs into Whitebeards amphitheater-like zone and looked up at the giant. He could feel the worry rolling off of Ace and Sabo but again chose to ignore it. He could even hear them tapping to him, telling him to stop whatever he was about to do, to not anger the Captain.

By now all eyes were on them, everyone curious as to what was happening, because, by the looks of it, Ace and Sabo had no idea either, only Luffy, who was staring at Whitebeard with narrowed eyes, seemed to know what was happening.

Ace and Sabo had no idea what Luffy was planning, and they didn't want to find out. They hadn't been expecting the timid and anxious boy to suddenly stalk up to the giant pirate captain without a word to them. Ever since everything that happened in the facility Luffy had been much more wary of strangers, but seeing him now reminded them of seven years ago, before any of the hell that was the facility happened.

But what had caused this? Had Luffy felt the bad feeling? If he had they had a feeling he wouldn't have reacted in this way, or he at least would have told them before doing this.

"Ne, giant mustache Captain." Inwardly Sabo cursed for not teaching Luffy the Captains name, but how was he supposed to have predicted that the boy would go and do this.

"Luffy." Ace hissed so low and quiet that Sabo wasn't even sure if Luffy heard, the fire user shuffling closer to Luffy as he did. Luffy had to have heard it though because his eyes flitted over to Ace for a brief moment before he promptly ignored the oldest, turning back to face Whitebeard with his narrowed eyes.

"Yes?" Whitebeard asked, obviously curious as to what was happening as well, and Sabo just hoped that Luffy wouldn't get them into any trouble. If ever there was a time for the brothers to be worried about the pirates turning on them, it would be now.

"You're mustache is stupid." The bluntness of the statement made everyone blink, not having expected the youngest to say that of all things.

"Luffy!" This time it was Sabo who hissed, but before he could turn to apologize to the Captain he was interrupted.

"Gurarara~! You're a cheeky brat, huh?" Whitebeard asked, a grin on his face, but Ace and Sabo for the life of them couldn't figure out if there was any ill intent behind it. In any case, they shuffled closer to Luffy, grabbing his hands tightly in theirs.

Luffy didn't reply, instead staring at Whitebeard for a moment with the same narrowed eyes and determined look.

"I bet I could beat you." Again, the bluntness threw everyone for a loop and Ace and Sabo's stomachs continued to drop more and more, wondering if Luffy was trying to get the Captain to attack them. Again Whitebeard laughed in response, leaving Sabo with no chance to try and explain Luffy's actions, not that he could even if he had the chance.

"Oh? I think you're a hundred years too soon to be challenging me." Whitebeard said confidently, his smile never leaving his face. Still, Luffy wasn't fazed by the answer, once again staring at Whitebeard for a moment before speaking up again.

"How do you feel about family?" Once more, the bluntness of the question caught everyone off guard. There seemed to be no pattern to the questions Luffy was asking, no reason for them. They were completely random and no one could figure out what was going on in the boys head, not even his brothers who merely stood by, watching.

They knew they should stop Luffy from speaking anymore, but the determination showed that, obviously, Luffy was trying to figure something out, and whatever it was it was probably important, so they let him ask the questions, just hoping that this wouldn't be the moment they had to jump ship.

They still hadn't found where they kept lifeboats.

"Family, you say? Family looks out for each other, keeps each other safe. You don't hurt or betray family. You don't turn away from family." Whitebeard answered easily, raising an eyebrow now at Luffys questions, and Ace and Sabo hoped that didn't mean he was starting to get annoyed with the youngest's pestering.

"And everyone on the crew is family?" Luffy asked, furthering the conversation. Whitebeard nodded, face serious.

"Everyone on my ship is my sons and daughters. We're all a family." Whitebeard confirmed. Luffy went silent again, everyone watching, waiting for his next question, not knowing what to expect next. Eventually, Luffy grinned his large toothy smile that was rare these days, only shown to the brothers when they were in the safety of their room, away from prying eyes.

"Shishishi~! You're a good guy Whitebeard." Luffy said, still grinning as he turned to walk back to the railing, though it was the railing much closer to the Captain, clearly not trying to distance himself anymore. Ace and Sabo looked at each other in a mixture of shock and confusion. They had no idea what the purpose behind Luffy's actions was, nor how those questions deemed the Captain a good guy, but they followed Luffy back to the railing silently, ignoring any looks they could feel coming from the pirates.

Luffy was back to facing the ocean as Ace and Sabo reached him, Sabo sitting beside him while Ace took his position on the ground, listening for the taps he knew were to come.

'Luffy?' Sabo questioned almost hesitantly. The boy, who was smiling brightly, glanced at Sabo out of the corner of his eye, acknowledging that he had heard him.

'What was that all about?' Sabo asked, wanting more than anything to figure out what had just happened. Luffys smile widened even more as he turned his eyes back to the ocean, holding back laughter.

'Shanks and Jii-chan were right, Giant Mustache Captain's a good guy.' Luffy said though, that did nothing to explain what had happened or how he had figured this information out.

'What's that gotta do with what just happened?' Ace questioned from the floor, tapping just loud enough for Luffy to hear.

'I was checking to see if he was a good guy. Bad guys don't have so many good feelings." Luffy replied, still smiling. Sabo and Ace both felt even more confused.

'You deemed him a good guy because he was feeling happy?' Ace asked incredulously. Luffy tilted his head, as if unsure of how to answer that.

'No... but yeah... but no.' Luffy said, a bit confused himself now. Sabo resisted the urge to facepalm.

'Then explain to us what happened.' Sabo resolved, wanting to move forward with the conversation. Luffy nodded at that, thinking of how to explain it.

'Well, I was feeling Giant Mustaches feelings because only Ace and Sabo have had the warm feeling, but he had a lot too, so I was confused. I checked his other feelings and there weren't any bad feelings, not even anger or sleepiness, so when I asked him questions I tried to make him mad, but it didn't work, so that's why he was a good guy.' Luffy tried explaining, though his brothers were still confused.

'Wait, what do you mean he didn't get mad? Not even a bit?' Ace asked, thinking back to some of the questions. Sure, Luffy's insult had been kind of lame, but it was still an insult, and his challenge should have been a sure fire way to get a pirate Captain ready for a fight. It was the perfect excuse, so why hadn't the Captain even felt an inkling of wanting to fight them? Was he that confident he would win that it didn't matter to him?

'Nope! He didn't get mad, he was only interested and a bit confused and when I asked him about family he didn't lie to me. He meant everything he said, so he's a good guy. I like him.' Luffy determined, smiling again. Ace and Sabo went quiet a moment, both thinking over Luffys words.

They had already felt a bit more comfortable near the Captain over all the other pirates, purely because of the fact that the man exuded a lot of the warmth. They hadn't known anyone else who had it, so that was a good sign to the brothers, but now that Luffy was so confidently claiming the man to be a good person it made Ace and Sabo that much more inclined to like the man.

It also helped that, even when presented with the perfect opportunity, Whitebeard hadn't fought their brother. He'd had the perfect opportunity to get rid of one of the brothers at that moment, yet he hadn't done anything, choosing to laugh it off instead.

Both of them glanced to the Captain, realizing some of the pirates were still watching them, very clearly still wondering about what had happened.

A while passed since Luffy's interrogation of Whitebeard and the pirates were finally beginning to disperse, allowing the brothers to relax a bit. As usual, it didn't last long though, Ace spotting the first Commander making his way over to them. After informing Sabo and Luffy of the incoming commander Ace sat up slightly, making it look as if he was waking up, stretching a bit before letting his eyes flick over to Marco fully now.

It didn't take long for him to reach the brothers, Sabo and Luffy turning around to face him as well.

"Hello Marco, how are you?" Sabo asked politely, smiling to the man.

"Good, thank you, yoi," Marco replied. Luffy began trying to get a read on the man, hoping to figure out why he came to talk to them in the first place.

Like Whitebeard before he interrogated him Luffy felt a bit more comfortable near the first commander, Thatch as well, because both of them had helped him save his brothers, and he knew that both of them kept their promises, but he had to be sure, like he was with Whitebeard, that he was really a good person.

"So what is it you needed?" Sabo asked, making himself comfortable as he gave his attention over to Marco.

"Nothing much, I just came by to tell you all that we're on course to an island that we should reach sometime tomorrow. We figured we could restock and get you three some necessities like clothes, yoi, seeing as you'll be staying with us now." Marco explained. The three perked at the thought of being able to go onto land soon, and maybe even away from the pirates for a bit.

"Anything else?" Sabo asked, wondering if the man would bring up Luffys stunt earlier. The commander shook his head though, surprising Sabo a bit, having expected him to try and pry the answer out of them, or at least question it a bit, but that wasn't the case.

"No, that was all, yoi. You three won't have to do chores until next month when we get the new schedule made so until then you guys can just rela-" Marco cut himself off when Ace, who had been sitting up straight, arms crossed over his chest, suddenly slumped back against the railing, arms falling at his side.

Of course Ace would have a sleep attack now of all times.

A few pirates turned to see what the thump noise Ace had made was, but Sabo had more pressing issues, namely the Commander who had just seen Ace have a sleep attack mid-conversation.

"Ah, don't worry about him, he gets bored easily and has a knack for falling asleep whenever and wherever he wants." Sabo lied, hoping the Commander wouldn't question it any more than that. Luffy seemed a bit worried as well, shifting a bit beside Sabo on the railing, looking like he wanted to move closer to Ace, to make sure no one got too close to him now that he was defenseless. Sabo felt the same.

"Are you sure, yoi? He looked like he hit the rail pretty hard there, I can get Whiskey if you want." Marco said, a hint of concern in his voice, contrasting his outwardly bored looking appearance, though his eyebrow was a bit more raised now.

Sabo had to bite his tongue from screaming that, no, they would not like for him to get Whiskey, a _nurse_ , to check up on their brother right now. Stopping himself though he forced a smile, hoping he looked unfazed by the question.

"He's fine, he's got a thick skull, something like that wouldn't hurt him," Sabo said, trying to smile pleasantly to the man. Marco looked at Ace another minute before he turned back to Sabo, seemingly accepting the answer to which Sabo nearly sighed in relief. They wrapped the conversation up quickly after that, the commander leaving just as Ace began to wake up again, the same dazed look on his face that he usually had whenever he had a sleep attack.

Sabo quickly recapped everything that had happened before they left, deciding to go take a nap. Obviously, Aces attacks weren't going to get better after only one night of good sleep but Sabo had hoped he wouldn't have to deal with him falling asleep so obviously in front of the first commander of all people.

Well, at least he hadn't been standing when it happened, that would have been a lot harder to explain.


	37. The First Island of (Hopefully) Many

By the time the next day rolled around the brothers were more than ready to go onto an island. Marco had told them over lunch that he and Izo would take them out to do the shopping for anything they would need, but after that, they were free to roam the island if they wanted.

Breakfast passed by smoothly, and after, the brothers went out onto the deck, sitting where they had yesterday. It was close by Whitebeard which, once again, did not go unnoticed by the pirates, nor the Captain. They ignored them though, opting instead to watch the island that they could faintly see in the distance slowly get closer.

Ace had no problem seeing it and for once, instead of sitting on the ground, Ace leaned over the railing with his brothers, Sabo taking charge of listening for anyone getting too close.

"The trees are pretty tall, and from what I can see the towns not that big, so that means there's a lot of forest to explore." Ace said, speaking softly to Sabo and Luffy, describing the details that he could see with his enhanced eyesight. Even though the younger two could only see a speck that resembled an island Ace could see much more detail, and Luffy, curious as ever, wanted to know what it looked like so far.

"Really?! Sabo, we can go exploring right?!" Luffy asked, turning to Sabo with a bright smile and shining eyes. Sabo briefly paused in focusing on the pirates surrounding them and turned to Luffy, smiling back.

"We can Luffy, but only after we do some shopping first, remember?" Sabo asked, all three of them still speaking in hushed tones. Even though it would be easier to speak in their silent language it would mean that Sabo wouldn't be able to focus all that much on their surroundings. If he was focusing on the pirates he wouldn't be able to take the time to decipher the different taps they used in their language, and if he focused on the taps then he might miss someone coming.

"What else is there Ace?" Luffy asked, pleased by Sabo's response. Ace continued to describe different things that he could see to Luffy, how the buildings looked, how many people he could see, the different boats in the docks, even what color flowers were in one of the window sills. Luffy took all of it in, hanging onto every word, but when Sabo signaled that Thatch was coming over their conversation stopped, all of them turning to face the incoming chef.

"Hey boys, you excited to visit the island?" Thatch asked pleasantly, a smile on his face. Sabo smiled back, nodding to the man as he did, while Luffy began reading his feelings.

"We are. We've only ever been to our home island before." Sabo said, deciding that the island that the facility had been on hadn't counted. Thatch nodded in understanding, walking up to the railing so that he could look at the now much more visible island.

"Makes sense. That just makes it all the more exciting though!" Thatch said, smile widening.

"I wish I could go with you guys though, but I'm in charge of restocking the food supply." Thatch continued, sighing a bit as he lit a cigarette.

"Oh well, I guess there's always next time! Maybe I'll see you guys after." Thatch said, standing and giving them a grin before waving and walking off, saying a quick goodbye as the three watched in confusion. They hadn't really said a word to the man, the chef just continuing the conversation with himself, like a monologue that they had accidentally overheard.

"That was weird." Ace muttered quietly, Sabo nodding in agreement.

"Well, whatever it was, at least I didn't have to do much talking," Sabo said as he turned back around on the railing, looking back to the island. Ace and Luffy turned as well, the island much closer then it had been when they first started looking at it.

"We should probably go find Marco or Izo, everyone's getting ready to land soon," Sabo said, hearing everyone talking, some giving orders on what to do as they got closer to the island. Ace and Luffy nodded, the trio turning away from the railing and looking at the mass of people. Luffy discreetly sniffed the air, sifting through the many scents until he found the familiar trail that would lead them to the first commander.

'This way.' Luffy signaled, turning to walk towards the upper deck. His brothers followed, trusting Luffys nose. It wasn't hard to find the commander after that, the three easily identifying the unique haircut as they ascended the stairs.

Marco was talking to someone, but by the time they reached the top of the stairs the conversation seemed to be over, the other pirate walking away while Marco stayed where he was, glancing around at everyone else around them. Seeing this as the perfect time the brothers walked up to the man, the commander spotting them quickly as they did.

"Ready to go, yoi?" Marco asked, Sabo nodding.

"We saw everyone was getting ready so we decided to come find you or Izo seeing as we'll be going with you two," Sabo explained smoothly.

"We should be landing within a couple of minutes now. After that, we'll wait for Oyaji to give out the assigned tasks, but then we'll be all set, yoi." Marco said.

"Do you need any help with anything?" Sabo asked, feeling a bit bad as he watched everyone working around them, some getting ready to lower the anchor, others heading to get the gangplank. Marco seemed to think for a second before nodding.

"If you want could you go and tell Izo that I need him to go and separate the money for the different groups being sent out to restock? I would but I'm a bit busy making sure we don't crash into the island, yoi." Marco said, and there was a hint of exasperation behind his words as if this was something that could happen if he weren't here.

The task seemed simple enough so Sabo nodded, Marco thanking them as he told them where the man might be, not that they needed it. The three turned to leave, Luffy using the time to smell the air for Izo, finding the perfume scent easily over the others. Apparently, the man had just come out on deck, the wind blowing the scent right to him.

The three maneuvered their way through the throngs of pirates bustling around, Luffy holding onto his brothers' hands as he led them so they wouldn't be separated on accident. Once they reached the man Sabo took charge again, putting on a smile as he called the mans name.

"Oh, hello you three, can I help you?" Izo asked, looking a bit surprised that they were talking to him.

"Marco wanted us to ask you if you could go separate the money for everyone going out to restock," Sabo said, relaying the information with ease. Izo sighed, smoothing his kimono out a bit.

"And right after I just left too. Well, thank you for the information, I'll see you guys in a bit." Izo said, smiling pleasantly to them as he turned to head back where he had come from.

'Well, now what?' Ace asked as they watched the door close behind the 16th commander. Sabo shrugged.

"Guess we just wait."

And they did. They watched as the pirates bustled back and forth, listening to, or giving, commands as they went.

Not wanting to get in the way the three sat on the sidelines, letting the experienced pirates take care of it all. Besides, there was so much going on that the brothers were a bit uncomfortable being near everyone during it. They didn't like that, at any second, someone could turn and attack them, because with all the movement going on, this would be a perfect time, it would catch them off guard.

The three weren't anywhere near trusting these pirates, if they ever would. Sure, they were a bit more comfortable near some, i.e. Whitebeard, Marco, Thatch, and Izo, but even then it was more that they tolerated being near those people better then they did the others on this ship, many who were still complete strangers.

It was also a case of the brothers not _wanting_ to try and get close to anyone, because what if they found out about them and their past and turned on them? It would hurt if they were strangers, but if they grew close with them, trusted them, it would hurt even more, and they couldn't handle that, not when the facility was such a fresh wound.

Finally, though, the ship was docking, all the preparations slowing as things worked themselves out, the Moby successfully anchoring and the gangplank being laid down onto the dock. The pirates gathered around Whitebeard and the trio guessed this was when everyone would be assigned their jobs. They decided to stay on the railing, watching Marco and Izo so they would be ready to go when they were done.

Whitebeard gave out the assignments, and when he finished the brothers hopped down, walking over to their escorts for the day.

"Alright, let's get going," Izo said with a smile, holding a pouch of what was, presumably, money. The three nodded, following the commanders off the ship and onto the solid ground, their legs a bit shaky after getting used to the rocky ship. They righted themselves easily though, following quickly, not wanting to get left behind or lost.

"So we should go get your clothes first, and then anything else after that. There'll probably be a bit of spending money left so you three can use it however you want, but after that, you can go explore." Izo said, glancing around to find the shops they would need. Sabo nodded, listening carefully so he knew what they were doing and where they should be going.

"And don't worry about the money, we've got it covered. Once you three start doing chores you'll get your own allowance to use on whatever you like whenever we dock." Izo explained.

While Sabo listened to the commander Luffy was practically bouncing with joy, looking at all the different shops, smelling the different smells, feeling the happy feelings coming from many of the citizens.

Even though he didn't want to get too close to anyone he was content sticking inbetween Ace and Sabo and observing from there. He may be different from seven years ago, but his childish wonder and curiosity was still the same.

Ace had to hold onto Luffy's hand a bit too tightly to keep the youngest from running off towards the first smell of food, but other than that the oldest was enjoying the excursion as well. He was glancing around, using his vision to look into the forest at the edge of the town, seeing it extend a good distance in, meaning it was big and perfect for exploring.

After they put up with being a bit too close to a lot of new people the three brothers would be able to finally relax by themselves in the forest.

"This looks like the one we want, yoi," Marco announced, breaking Ace and Luffy from their thoughts. They followed the two into the shop, looking around at all the different clothes. Izo was beaming as he practically floated away towards a shelf where he began browsing. Marco shook his head, turning to the brothers.

"Go get anything you want, I'll just wait here, yoi. Oh, and you might want to hurry before Izo tries to get you to try on twenty different shirts." Marco said, the three nodding as they went off to a different section of the store.

'That guy can try, but I swear, if he does I'll throw the shirt right back at 'em.' Ace tapped, not wanting to play dress up. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Sabo rolled his eyes, already lifting different shirts and pants up to Luffy to check if they would fit the small boy.

'Not a good plan, we're trying to be nice, remember?' Sabo asked after putting back a shirt that was a bit too big for Luffy. Ace pouted.

'Fine, I'll throw it back gently. Happy?' Ace asked, crossing his arms as he tapped against his skin. Sabo sent a pointed look to Ace, frowning but didn't say anything.

'I like pretty man! He's feeling really happy right now!' Luffy tapped, a smile blossoming onto his face, and his brothers realized that, even though most of it was probably his own emotion, Luffy was probably being influenced by the overjoyed man stacking clothes over his arm.

That wasn't an entirely bad thing though, because at least it was a happy emotion. Sabo smiled to Luffy, ruffling his hair.

'That's good Lu, he seems to be a nice person at least.' Sabo said, meaning it. Izo hadn't done anything to them that would raise any flags. He had even helped Luffy with his hat which was definitely a plus.

'Now, Ace, try this on.' Sabo said, tossing a shirt at Ace, the clothing covering the fire users face. Ace pulled it off, revealing a glare while Luffy snickered beside him.

Meanwhile, Marco watched from where he stood at the front of the shop. Izo was flitting around, clearly pleased with the situation he was in as he stacked shirts upon shirts, sometimes adding pants to the mix as he did. Marco knew he was going to have to stop the man before he ended up trying to buy the whole store, but for now, he would let his brother have his fun.

The trio of brothers, on the other hand, were a bit more interesting to watch. Sabo was helping Luffy pick out clothes, more like picking them out himself, while Ace watched, looking a bit annoyed. At one point Sabo threw a shirt at the oldest, confusing Marco a bit, but it made Luffy laugh which wasn't something he heard much at all.

After that Ace began helping with the process, taking over the role of getting clothes for Luffy while Sabo moved onto getting clothes for himself and Ace.

It was interesting to watch the brothers work. They still knew next to nothing about them, like what had happened in the facility, what information the facility had gotten on the three that made the marines want them back so bad, or even something as mundane as their favorite food, but Marco knew that they wouldn't be getting any of that information anytime soon, and that was ok.

Luffys interrogation of Oyaji had been a bit strange, and no one knew what to make of it when it had happened. Marco recalled that even Ace and Sabo seemed surprised by Luffys questionnaire which only made it all that much more confusing, but Marco had decided not to bring it up at the time, because Sabo had looked like he expected him to, and he knew how touchy the three were about sharing information, so he had chosen not to pry.

Of course, everyone else had thought he had pried because the second he left the brothers he was bombarded by questions from anyone he saw, all of them wanting to know what the deal was.

The brothers were a puzzle that was rapidly increasing in difficulty and Marco was beginning to wonder if they would ever get closer to solving it, but after the interrogation from Luffy the three seemed to be a bit more comfortable near their Captain, so that had to be a good sign, right?

The first commander watched the brothers, noticing that every few seconds one of them would tap, either on their arms, legs, shelves, or even each other, and Marco was reminded of the many other times he had seen them do that. He raised an eyebrow at the gesture, still not knowing what to make of it.

Initially, he had thought that it might be a nervous tick or a habit, but for them to do it that frequently as if there was purpose behind it, made him think otherwise. He didn't know what it would mean otherwise, but he did know that there had to be some kind of story behind it.

Eventually, it looked like the three were finished, each holding their own stack of clothing. Marco stood up from where he was leaning against the wall and grabbed the pouch of money from his side, having confiscated it from Izo the second they reached the store.

"You guys done, yoi?" Sabo nodded at the question, following the man over to the check out where a woman was smiling politely to them.

The brothers ignored the pleasantries from the woman, instead more focused on what they had been discussing earlier.

'But what if there was such thing as an underwater tiger?' Luffy asked.

'And I told you, there's no way there's freaking underwater tigers! They don't exist!' Ace said, this argument having been going on for most of their shopping experience now.

'But what if they _were_?' Luffy pressed, only annoying Ace more.

'Alright, both of you calm down, Marcos finishing.' Sabo interjected, drawing their attention back to their chaperone who was beginning to pick up one of their bags. Ace grabbed the other two before the commander had a chance and they began heading to the front of the store.

"We're leaving now Izo," Marco called, not bothering to look to see if the other commander heard. There was a groan, indicating that Izo had, in fact, heard him, and the brothers turned to see the man quickly returning clothes to their shelves before running after them.

"Marco, you did that on purpose! You could have given me some warning!" Izo whined, frowning. Marco rolled his eyes at that.

"If I had, yoi, you would have bought something. This trip wasn't meant for you to restock your endless wardrobe, remember?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow to the man who promptly pouted, placing his arms in his sleeves.

"Yeah, but you could have at least let me get that one shirt, it would have been great for Rakuyo, he's always complaining he doesn't have a shirt with shorter sleeves for when we go to the summer islands!" Izo said, a slight whine still in his voice.

"Then you should come back later with Rakuyo, yoi," Marco said. The brothers watched the interaction with mild interest, the two going back and forth with ease. Even though they hung around the pirates they never paid too much to how they interacted, always assuming it was like the doctors had interacted with each other, calm, cool, and professional, only saying what was needed and then being done. This, however, was different, a much easier, laid back conversation that they hadn't been expecting.

After Izo and Marco finished up their talk the group lapsed into silence, walking through the town and admiring the beauty of it all as they did. Luffy was becoming a bit more comfortable and relaxed in their group, pleased that no one was coming up to bother them, and had eventually begun to speak aloud, pointing to different buildings that interested him or products he thought looked cool. Ace and Sabo indulged him, agreeing that, yes, that shop was really tall, or yes, that jacket with the spikes on the shoulders looked cool.

The group had been walking for a couple of minutes, the shop they were looking for not close to where they had been, and at one point Luffy had directed Ace and Sabo attention towards a building on their left. Just as he raised his arm, ready to blurt out whatever it was that was on his mind, Marco suddenly grabbed the boys wrist, shocking him into silence. Ace and Sabo almost immediately began to jump into action, not knowing why Marco had just grabbed Luffy, and not really caring, all they knew was that they weren't going to let the man hurt their brother.

Were the pirates finally turning? Was this the moment they had been waiting for?

"Let's go look at that over there, yoi," Marco said almost a little too quickly, lowering Luffy's arm as he pulled him onto the opposite side of the street, leading them back toward the way they had come. Ace and Sabo were just about to pull Marco off of their brother, just about to attack him when they heard Marco speak in a much quieter tone than before.

"Just follow me, Marines are coming this way, yoi," Marco said softly, probably having noticed the tension in all three of them. Luffy, who had looked particularly terrified that Marco had grabbed his arm looked even more scared after hearing those words, pulling his arm closer to his side, Marco having let it go by now.

Ace and Sabo almost froze in shock, realizing now exactly what had happened. They rushed forward toward Luffy, putting him inbetween them once more as they tucked their own arm a bit closer to their sides.

Marco had covered Luffy's tattoo from the marine who would have surely seen it had Marco let the boy continue with what he had been doing.

Izo was following behind them, and for once they didn't care, as long as they got away from the marine. They were silent again, and Ace and Sabo were silently cursing themselves, mad that they hadn't been paying as much attention as they should have.

Of course, there would be marines here, ones that probably knew to look out for children with numbers on their wrists, and they were walking around showing theirs off to the whole world!

Sabo risked a quick glance behind him, catching sight of the familiar white and blue outfit that indicated a marine, and quickly looked forward again, biting the inside of his cheek as he felt the anxiety begin to well up inside him.

Luffy, already shaken from Marco's sudden contact, was even more shaken by the close proximity they were in to the marine, wanting more than anything to go hide in their room back on the Moby, or near the giant Captain, the one who always had so much warmth radiating from him. Instead, he grabbed onto Ace and Sabo's hands, pulling them close to him so he could feel their arms on his, using the contact to ground himself, to feel safer.

Ace was trying to look anywhere but behind him, not wanting to look at the marine and risk gaining their attention, but wanting to know how close they were, if they were already looking at him and his brothers, wanting to see where they were headed. Were they going to follow them? Would they turn off towards another section of town? Had he already seen their tattoos? Ace bristled at the thought, clenching his fist tightly, his fingernails digging into his palm to the point that they were nearly drawing blood. He forced himself to keep his eyes straight ahead, forced himself to follow the first commander who was definitely high up on his suspicion list.

Even though the man had only been doing it to help the brothers it was still off-putting that he had so quickly grabbed Luffy and could have hurt him in the few seconds that Ace and Sabo hadn't reacted. They had gotten lucky, and next time someone grabbed Luffy like that, it probably wasn't going to be with good intentions. Next time they would have to be more prepared, they couldn't risk letting their guard down like they had in the town. They had gotten too comfortable, forgotten about the dangers that surrounded them at every turn, too excited about the prospect of finally being alone for a bit after all of this.

With those thoughts in mind, the brothers followed Marco as he led them back through the town, using different turns to get them back to where they needed to be without going by the marine. Now that they knew they weren't near a marine the three calmed slightly, but they were nowhere near back to being as relaxed as they had been previously and they didn't think they would.

"Anything else we'll need will be in here, yoi," Marco said eventually as they finally reached the shop they needed. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy nodded mutely, following him inside and grabbing things almost mechanically, not really paying much attention to the items like they would normally.

They couldn't help but focus on everyone around them, waiting for the next attack, waiting for someone to make their move, for marines to come swarming in.

Apparently, they had gotten everything they needed because before they knew it they were walking up to the cashier, Marco paying for their things and Sabo grabbing the bags. The group left the shop and began making their way back to the Moby to put their things away.

"After we get your things back you're free to roam the island if you would like, but be careful you three, we don't want the marines spotting you," Izo said, worry evident on his face as he spoke, concerned for the three. Sabo nodded, barely listening as he focused more on their surroundings, wanting to be ready for anything. Izo sighed, noticing the lack of attention, the trio still looking a bit shaken up.

Izo couldn't blame them, they had only just gotten out of that facility, and they were already being faced with people who wanted to send them back. No matter the fact that he, and everyone else on the Moby, knew nothing about their past, they knew it was bad.

Marco was feeling the same, but he also felt a bit bad that he had startled the brothers in the first place. He hadn't noticed the marine coming until it was too late, and in an effort to keep the boys safe he had to grab the youngest's arm to keep them from being caught, but as a result, it had put the brothers on edge. It was better for them to be mad at him then for the marine to spot them, but it was a bit disappointing after they had all been trying their best to show the brothers that they could trust the Whitebeards, and he had gone and nearly ruined it if he hadn't already.

Once they reached the ship the trio made a beeline for their room, bags in hand as they did, while Izo and Marco went to Whitebeard to tell him about what happened. They didn't know if the brothers would still be going out to the island after this but it might be a good idea to have someone go with them just in case.

"Welcome back my sons, how was your outing?" Whitebeard asked as he saw the two Commanders walking up to him. Izo sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, it could have been better," Izo admitted, Whitebeard raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? Did something happen?" Whitebeard asked.

"We almost ran into a marine, yoi," Marco explained, sighing as well. Whitebeard frowned in understanding.

"How are the brats?" The Captain asked, concerned for the three he had taken in. Izo tilted his head, turning to look at the door leading to the boys' room.

"I think they're still a bit shaken up. Marco scared 'em a bit too." Izo said, glancing at the Commander. Even though he understood why Marco did it, he knew that it had caused the boys a bit of extra stress.

"The marine would have seen Luffy's tattoo so I had to grab his wrist to stop him, yoi. The brothers didn't know there was a marine though and probably thought the worst." Marco said in response to his Captains raised eyebrow.

Before Whitebeard could respond though the door was opening and the brothers were walking out, as silent as ever, walking over to the gangplank and making their way back onto the island.

"I thought for sure they wouldn't want to go back onto the island," Izo mumbled quietly as he watched the three walk towards the forest rather than the town.

"Should I go after them Oyaji, yoi?" Marco asked, also watching the three leave. Whitebeard was silent for a second but shook his head.

"Leave them be for now. If they're not back in an hour go check on them and make sure they haven't been harmed," Whitebeard said, concerned for the brothers' safety, but not wanting to force them to have a guard with them everywhere they went. It seemed that after the outing today whatever progress the pirates had made had gone back down again.

Whitebeard grinned. It was one step forward and two steps back with these brothers.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Finally, it feels like I can breathe again!" Ace sighed, shoulders relaxing as the trees surrounded them on all sides, not sensing anyone near them with his haki. They were finally alone.

"Look at how tall the trees are!" Luffy said in amazement, also feeling more relaxed now that there was no one around to hurt him or his brothers.

"It's almost like the jungle back home," Sabo said as he looked around, having the urge to go jumping through the trees like they had done so long ago. They may not be kids anymore on their home island, but they still enjoyed running around and being free like they had back then.

"Ne, Ace, Sabo, I bet I can beat you in a race to the cliff!" Luffy suddenly said, smiling brightly as he looked off in a direction. Ace looked as well, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see the cliff Luffy was talking about, confusing him.

"How did you know there was a cliff there?" Ace asked, wondering if Luffy had more powers then he was letting them in on. Luffys smile didn't fade. If anything it grew.

"I can smell the ocean!" Luffy explained, but that didn't really answer the question.

"Luffy, its an island, there's water all around us," Sabo said, also curious now. Luffy laughed, running off without giving an answer.

"I'm gonna beat you two if you don't hurry!" Luffy cheered, Ace and Sabo glancing each other for a second before smiling.

"As if!" Ace shouted, taking off after the youngest.

"Like you could beat us Luffy!" Sabo teased, also running after his brothers. The two eldest easily made their way past the youngest, but Luffy merely laughed loudly, charging after them.

The three continued laughing loudly their entire way to the cliff, their previously bad mood gone completely, replaced with only happiness, joy, _freedom_.

As they ran out from the treeline they slowed down, coming to a stop at the cliff's edge, looking out at the beauty of the water expanding across the horizon.

Even though they were being chased down by marines, even though so many bad things had happened to them in the past seven years, even though they would be scarred for life, there was one thing that made it all better, one thing that made it seem like, even though all of those things had happened, it would still be ok.

"Ace, Sabo?" Luffy asked softly, holding onto his hat as he looked up at the sky. His brothers turned to look at him, humming in question. Luffys small smile grew into a wide, toothy grin.

"I like being free."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Looks like the brothers have had their first encounter with Marines that weren't with Garp! And Marco scared them too by grabbing Luffy. It seems their first island adventure wasn't all that great, but they still got some time to themselves in the forest, which they desperately needed after everything they've been through.
> 
> With Marco grabbing Luffy, the three have lost some of that trust, but at the same time, Marco showed that they could trust him to keep them safe from Marines. Whether they see it that way or not is still to be seen, but its a start. The three had definitely grown more comfortable around the pirates compared to how they first started out and this could possibly set them back again, but we wont know for sure until the next chapter.


	38. Darkness Detected

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Ace said mournfully as he and his brothers watched the island they had been on yesterday slowly drifting away from them. Sabo and Luffy nodded in agreement, already wanting to be back in the forest running through the trees and sparring with each other freely.

"Hopefully the next island we go to will have another forest like that," Sabo said wistfully, his head resting on his arms as he leaned over the tall wall-like railing that lined the Moby Dick.

"And more meat." Luffy moaned, frowning. Ace and Sabo rolled their eyes at that, shaking their heads at Luffy's simple mindedness. They watched on in silence as the island slowly became smaller and smaller in the distance until Sabo and Luffy couldn't see it anymore. It was just after breakfast now and the brothers were back to doing nothing. They still didn't have to do chores for another few weeks and they had no clue when they would be reaching the next island. Marco had told them that they were heading back to the New World now, but they didn't know how long it would take to get there.

Sitting on the railing was quickly becoming a usual pastime for the three, having nothing better to do than that. Even though they were bored, they were ok with that, because it meant that they weren't back in the facility, fighting every day to survive. At least here, they could sit in relative peace, even if the mass of pirates around them still put them on edge.

"Hey there!" Thatch's voice made Sabo turn, noticing once again that Ace had fallen to another narcolepsy attack. Putting on a smile Sabo looked at the man, trying his best to look as friendly as possible.

"Hello Thatch." Sabo greeted back, Luffy turning around now as well so he could also watch the man. The chef walked a bit closer, stopping before he was too close for comfort, and began speaking.

"I was wondering if you three would like to go-" Thatch was cut off when the ship hit a particularly rough wave, everyone losing their balance briefly because of it. The jostle must have woken Ace up because the eldest grumbled and sat up, looking around in a daze, but Sabo couldn't even begin to explain to him what was happening, because suddenly, Luffy was falling.

One second the boy was at his side, holding onto the railing tightly, and the next he was falling backward, a small ' _eep_ ' leaving the boys mouth as he did.

"Luffy!" Sabo called out, eyes wide as he turned to see the youngest splashing into the ocean. Ace flew up from where he had been laying, standing beside Sabo and peering over the railing to look for his brother. Sabo had to place a hand on the eldest's shoulder to keep him from jumping in after him.

"Man overboard!" They vaguely heard one of the pirates call the words out, more preoccupied with looking for their brother.

'Do you see him?' Sabo asked Ace, looking frantically around in the waves.

'He's trying to swim up.' Ace replied, gripping the railing tightly as he watched through the water, watched Luffy begin struggling to the surface, all those tests in the water finally coming in somewhat handy.

"He'll be fine, don't worry, Namurs already gone after him." Thatch tried to say soothingly, but even the chef looked a bit worried.

"Can he swim, yoi?" Marco asked, coming up as well, shocking the brothers a bit. The attention was all on them again with this new development, but they tried to ignore it. Before Ace could spit something out at the commander Sabo answered, trying his best to sound calm, even if he looked anything but.

"Not very well, we didn't have much time to practice," Sabo said through gritted teeth.

"Luffy!" Aces shout cut off anymore conversation between Sabo and Marco, the blonde brother spinning quickly to see Luffy's head poking up out of the water, a wave immediately crashing back over him though. Luffy was very obviously struggling and his brothers could see the terror in his eyes. At least he was above the water though.

They could see Namur now, closing in on Luffy until he finally reached him, pulling the small boy along with him now, back to the ship. Someone threw the rope ladder down for them and Ace and Sabo rushed over to it, watching anxiously as the Fishman carried Luffy back up to them.

They would have to hurry back to their room to keep anyone from seeing how weak the water made Luffy. Sure, they had already waved off any doubts of devil fruits, especially since they had all just seen Luffy very clearly treading water rather than sinking, but they didn't need anyone having doubts for any reason, or even send nurses at them.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo said in relief, retrieving their brother from the Fishmans arms and hugging him close.

"Thank you, Mr. Namur, for retrieving our brother," Sabo said gratefully, Ace already ushering Luffy away to their room.

"It was no problem, Sabo, really. And just Namur is fine." Namur said, Sabo nodding before running off after Ace and Luffy, leaving the pirates to watch after them.

"Man, I thought I could finally talk to them." Thatch whined as he watched the brothers scurry off to their room, probably for the rest of the morning. Marco shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll find a time to talk, Thatch," Marco said, patting the chef on the back as he passed by him, on his way back to Pops.

"Yeah, besides, you've had tons of chances, you normally just blow 'em," Namur said, shaking the water off of himself as he spoke. Thatch pouted.

"Like when you had a one-sided conversation with yourself instead of letting them talk!" Someone piped up, Thatch's pout intensifying.

"Hey, I was just trying to keep them comfortable! They don't like talking all the time so I thought I'd do all the talking for them!" Thatch defended, crossing his arms. Some laughed, Namur shaking his head with a smile and walking away.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"You alright Lu?" Sabo asked gently, using a towel to wipe off every drop of water he could find on the youngest's body. Luffy nodded a bit sluggishly, frown on his face. Thoughts of the facility were rushing through his brain, remembering all the times they dunked him underwater, draining his strength, forcing him to hold his breath, forcing him to move his heavy limbs.

Ace frowned, noticing Luffy was shivering a bit, and moved closer, heating his body temperature up a bit to warm his brother.

"You did good Lu. On the bright side, none of those pirates'll be expecting you to have a devil fruit now!" Ace said with a grin, ruffling Luffys hair, gaining a small smile in response.

"That's right if anyone was suspicious they definitely aren't now, not after seeing you swim to the surface," Sabo said, setting the towel aside and picking up Luffy's wet clothes, placing them on the towel. Now that Luffy was dry and warming up Sabo sighed, glancing at the door.

"Why don't we relax here until lunch?" Sabo asked, turning to face Luffy. the boy nodded a bit sluggishly, leaning into Ace more and closing his eyes.

Taking that as a cue that he was tired Ace maneuvered them so they were laying down comfortably, Sabo joining soon after.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Pops." Marco greeted as he came to stand by Whitebeards chair, turning to face his many brothers out on the deck, many mingling or doing chores. Seeing as they were still in Paradise there was little they had to worry about, giving them all a lot of downtime.

"Son. What have you come to talk about?" Whitebeard asked, knowing that something was on his first mate's mind. Marco was quiet a moment, seeming to think about whatever it was he was going to say before he spoke.

"I was thinking, yoi, the brothers, they do a lot of tapping." Marco started, Whitebeard raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh? And why do you think that is?" Whitebeard asked, having a feeling Marco was having trouble distinguishing why that was himself.

"At first I thought it was a nervous tick, or a habit, yoi," Marco said, Whitebeard nodding in understanding.

"But now you think differently?" Whitebeard asked. Again, Marco went silent, thinking things over again.

"Before, when I saw them tapping, it looked like there was no pattern like they didn't notice they were doing it in the first place, but then I started to realize that the taps seemed a bit... deliberate, yoi. Not only that but when one stops tapping another starts, almost like they can't sit without tapping." Marco explained, his thoughts and theories running through his head.

"Any ideas as to why that might be?" Whitebeard asked, encouraging his son to sort out his thoughts.

"Not anything that I can come up with right now, yoi. I just thought you'd like to know." Marco said with a hint of a sigh as if he was annoyed with himself for not having figured out one of the many mysteries surrounding the brothers.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure its nothing to worry about. Either way though, keep an eye on them, after the littlest brats dip in the water they seemed a bit more skittish. We want them to be comfortable here." Whitebeard said with a bit of a sigh, looking to the door that led to the brothers' room. Marco nodded, crossing his arms as he scanned the deck.

"I think some will start getting frustrated soon with how closed off the brothers are. I'll try and calm them down though, yoi." Marco said, knowing that there were more than a few of his brothers that were starting to get annoyed that the brothers weren't being as receptive to their attempts at friendly conversation as they would like.

"Good. Try and get them to understand that those three have been through a lot. Sometimes your brothers can be a bit hard-headed." Whitebeard said with a fond smile, glancing to a few of his sons that he knew to be just that. Marco huffed a small laugh out, uncrossing his arms and standing straighter, smile on his face.

"You've definitely got that right Pops, yoi," Marco said, walking off to get started on some more paperwork he had gotten earlier.

He could hear Whitebeard laugh loudly behind him.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Come on you two, lunch is ready." Sabo groaned out a bit groggily. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, especially when Ace and Luffy were already sleeping, but at some point when listening to a few pirates drone on and on about barrels they had to move from the upper deck to the lower he had fallen asleep.

Giving Luffy another shake the youngest's eyes scrunched up a bit before he was blinking them open, grumbling. The same happened with Ace and Sabo yawned, sitting back and trying to wake up.

"Food?" Ace mumbled out, sitting up and wiping the crud from his eyes. Sabo nodded, getting out of the bed and standing.

"From the sounds of it, yeah. Pretty sure we're actually a bit late." Sabo said, listening in and noticing he couldn't hear a single person out on deck, only those in the crows nest.

"Fooood~!" Luffy groaned out, getting out of bed in a zombie-like manner and stumbling a bit on his way to the door. Sabo chuckled quietly, catching his brother before he could face plant onto the floor after tripping over his own feet.

"Calm down Lu, I'm sure there'll still be some when we get there. Wake up a bit, you don't want to get overwhelmed suddenly when you walk in." Sabo said, knowing that, for all of them, their senses were more sensitive after just waking up, making it easier for them to be overwhelmed.

"But I _am_ awake!" Luffy whined, rubbing his eyes and pouting, trying to put on his best 'awake' face. Sabo smiled, ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, and Ace isn't narcoleptic." Sabo teased, Ace shouting a 'Hey!' from where he was sitting on the bed and Luffys pout deepening.

"Anyways, Thatch is apparently a bit overwhelmed in the kitchen right now. Seems a few of the chefs are sick with the flu at the moment so it's probably a good thing we're not there right now." Sabo said as he listened in, noticing how rushed the chef sounded, though, to the man's credit, he wasn't complaining.

"Aw, but I'm hungry," Luffy whined again, waiting by the door as he complained. Sabo sighed at his brothers' impatience.

"Don't worry Lu, we'll still eat," Sabo said as Ace stood up behind him, more awake now then he had been. Doing a quick once over of Luffy showed that he was awake now as well, to which Sabo deemed it acceptable for them to leave their room.

"Come on, we can head there now," Sabo said, Luffy beaming happily and flinging the door open, waiting for his brothers before he went any further.

The walk to the galley was made silently, and Luffy's enthusiasm quickly dimmed down as they got closer to the crowded room, remembering just how many people were in there. They finally reached the doors, Ace pushing them opening and scanning the room quickly as they walked in. Not many looked up to see them, most having gotten over the phase of staring at the brothers wherever they went, but there was still the few that glanced up to watch them, only to turn back to their friends after a second.

"There you boys are, I was beginnin' to think you weren't gonna show up," Rakuyo said with a pleasant smile, waving to the brothers as they sat down. Sabo smiled back politely.

"Sorry, we decided to take a nap and didn't get up until a few minutes ago." Sabo apologized easily, leaving his smile on his face. Rakuyo waved it off.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Rest was probably a good thing after your brothers dip in the water, we don't want him catchin' a cold." Rakuyo said with concern, and Sabo wondered if it was genuine. A quick nudge to Luffy and he was quickly given confirmation that the man's words were indeed genuine, making Sabo wonder.

"That we wouldn't." Sabo agreed, Rakuyo smiling as the conversation between them ended.

"Even if you had been here on time it wouldn't have made a difference anyway," Atmos stated from where he sat, head in hand. Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, putting on a face of confusion.

"Oh? Why's that?" He asked, noticing that Luffy, who had been listening for a minute after Sabo had nudged him, was now more focused on something else. Probably trying to sense more feelings.

"Seems some of the chefs caught the flu. Poor Thatch is workin' his butt off back there so lunch is a bit delayed." Blenheim said, and Sabo had to act as if this was new information.

"That's too bad, I hope they get better soon. Anyways, we don't mind waiting." Sabo said, knowing full well that Luffy did indeed mind waiting. With that conversation over as well, Sabo focused more on the conversations already being had by the other Commanders at the table. Marco and Izo were absent but other than that everyone else was there, even Whitebeard.

"I'm adding in another 100 on my bet that it'll take a month," Jiru said, sliding some money over to Haruta who happily pocketed the money.

"No way, did you see how mad Marco was, he's totally about to burst, two on mine that it'll happen by the end of Friday this week," Vista said confidently, also sliding money Haruta's way.

"You guys are idiots. If Marco ever finds out about this you're all going down." Namur said, shaking his head, arms crossed.

"Yeah, but Marco won't find out if no one says anything," Haruta said happily, smiling cheerfully to the Fishman who merely rolled his eyes. Whitebeard laughed from his end of the table, watching the Commanders the entire time.

"Still, I can't believe you've delayed Thatch from putting those poles away for this long, in just another, what, little over a week, it'll have been an entire month!" Curiel said with slight amazement to his tone. This had Haruta puffing his chest out proudly, but whatever he said next was ignored by Sabo whose attention was quickly drawn to Luffy.

Ace looked as well, also having caught the slight shiver that had run through Luffy just a second ago.

'What's wrong Lu?' Ace quickly tapped out, glancing around quickly to make sure no one was watching them. Luffy frowned deeply, eyebrows scrunching up in confusion.

'Luffy?' Sabo tried when the boy didn't respond. Luffy glanced to Ace, and then to Sabo before looking down at the table.

'I thought I felt the darkness.' Luffy tapped a bit slowly. That was enough for Ace and Sabo to go rigid, both of them ready to jump ship that second. Even though Sabo had always tried to drill into Ace that they couldn't just go off on their own without supplies he was ready to do exactly that. If someone on this ship had the darkness they were no longer safe, especially not when they knew Marines were looking for them and would probably send them right back to another facility if they had the chance.

Before either Ace or Sabo could grab Luffy and run though, Luffy elaborated.

'I thought I felt it, but after a minute it was gone, and it was really faint.' Luffy said, though he looked a bit confused. Ace and Sabo were also confused now too. As far as they knew you couldn't just hide a feeling, especially if that feeling was darkness, so how had the feeling disappeared? They were on a ship in the middle of the ocean, if someone with the darkness had been here they wouldn't have gone out of Luffy's range that quickly.

'What do you mean it was faint?' Ace asked, thinking that, maybe, if the feeling was barely a feeling at all, it had gone away naturally. Luffys frown deepened further if possible and he looked even more confused.

'I don't know, it was like the person had lots of darkness, but it was muffled... like they weren't here, but they were 'cause I was feeling the darkness...' Luffy tapped out. The rigidness left Ace and Sabo slowly with the news that the threat, most likely, wasn't onboard still, and even if they were, the feeling was gone. That didn't mean that they weren't going to be on extra guard now though.

'Well... for now, let's just be extra cautious, and Luffy, double check the Commanders again, make sure that it wasn't coming from any of them.' Sabo tapped. Luffy nodded and the brothers returned to their normal formation to keep guard, Sabo trying his best to tune back into the Commanders' conversations while trying to ignore the new thoughts buzzing inside his head.

It was at this point that Thatch was coming out with plates on a platter, looking a little more than tired.

"Alright everyone, lunch is ready, get in line!" Thatch called out, the pirates cheering at the announcement, tables standing and heading over to where the brothers assumed the food was. Thatch walked over to them, the Commanders getting up and leaving as well.

"And for you three, here's your meals." Thatch said with a tired smile, placing their food in front of them, also moving to hand Whitebeard his own as well.

"Thank you, Thatch, but you didn't have to bring us our food, we could have gone and gotten it ourselves if it made it easier," Sabo said, not wanting to be a burden. He didn't want the tipping point for the pirates to be the fact that they ate so much.

"No, no, it's fine, really, it's just that two chefs aren't enough to make all these people food in a timely manner without any of us feeling the effects." Thatch said with a sigh, sitting down heavily on the bench and pulling out a cigarette.

"If you need some help I'm sure some of your brothers wouldn't mind helping," Whitebeard said with a soft smile, glancing around the lively galley. Thatch sighed.

"Last time we got help from someone outside my division Hayden nearly lost a finger and we were set back even further when Pete started a fire." Thatch said with a shake of his head.

"Hmm. Its a shame most of your division is gone on a mission." Whitebeard said sympathetically.

"Oh well, hopefully, the others will feel better tomorrow and can help out again. For now, I've gotta head back and get started on dinner, maybe it'll be done on time." Thatch said, begrudgingly standing up.

"It was good seeing you three!" Thatch ended with a wave, yawning as he headed to the kitchen. By this point, many of the Commanders were returning with plates of food, the other pirates settling down as well.

"So Pops, where're Marco and Izo at?" Fossa asked as he sat down. Sabo glanced at his brothers to check the progress they had made on their food so far before turning back to the conversation.

"They're checking in on your brothers who're on missions," Whitebeard answered, taking a bite of his own food.

"Ah, shouldn't a few of them be back soon?" The Commander asked, thinking back to something. Whitebeard nodded.

"A few, yes. we'll be meeting with some once we get back to the New World as well," Whitebeard explained, Fossa nodding in understanding. The doors opened, Sabo only noticing because Aces eyes flicked over to them, and he saw Marco and Izo walk in, both of them talking to each other. Tuning out of the Commanders conversations Sabo quickly tuned in to the pair talking, curious as to what they could be speaking about.

"Thatch's division said they would be heading back here next week, they just reached the island they were sent to check up on," Izo said as he picked at his nails for a second. Marco nodded.

"Good, Pops was hoping they would make it there within this week. Ryan's group should be here by tomorrow at the latest. Teach's should be back within a few days as well, yoi." Marco replied, the two of them finally reaching the table and sitting down.

"Hey Marco, Izo, welcome to lunch!" Haruta greeted cheerily, and Sabo assumed the topic of Thatch's fishing poles had once again been brought up by how suspiciously normal Haruta was trying to act.

Sabo didn't ponder on that though as he noticed Ace and Luffy were finishing up their lunches. With that observation Sabo quickly finished his own, the three of them standing in sync and making their way out of the room quickly before anyone could stop or notice them.

No one was out on deck yet, only the brothers, so they didn't bother to head straight to the railing like they usually would.

'Luffy, do you know where you might have felt the darkness?' Ace asked. Sabo gave Ace a confused look, not quite sure what he was planning. Noticing the look Ace frowned.

'What? If someone had the darkness we should go check it out, besides, no ones out here right now besides those guys in the crows nest, but they're not even looking at us. Now's the perfect time to go snooping.' Ace tapped out as if it were the obvious next step. Sabo sighed but didn't have time to explain to Ace what a bad idea that was before Luffy was answering.

'I don't know, it was really hard to feel, but I think it came from over there.' Luffy said, pointing to the door that lead to one of the many hallways inside the Moby.

'Great, let's go!' Ace said, already stalking his way to the door. Although Sabo also wanted to know where the feeling had come from, he couldn't help but feel that, if they were caught snooping, this would only do more harm than good for the brothers.

Regardless, he followed his brother who was suddenly filled with a determination Sabo had only seen when they were escaping the facility. Luffy was beside Ace, holding onto the eldest's hand as he guided them to where he had felt the darkness.

'I don't know where it was after this.' Luffy said, stopping them at the end of the hallway they had been walking down. There were three doors that they could go through, one in front of them and one on their left and right.

'So whoever had the bad feeling was in one of these rooms then.' Ace said, glancing at the doors.

'Ace, not that I want to throw a wrench in this plan of yours, but the pirates are finishing lunch and I don't think they'll especially like that we're here!' Sabo said, hearing the footsteps of pirates leaving the galley, making their way on deck.

'Well, are any coming this way?' Ace asked, arms folded over his chest. Another quick listen told Sabo that, no, so far no one was heading their way.

'No, but-'

'Then I'm checking out these rooms. If someone starts coming, we'll leave.' Ace tapped dismissively, grabbing the handle of the door in front of them and pushing his way in.

"Ace!" Sabo hissed angrily but followed none the less. His brother may be an idiot, but he wasn't going to leave him behind for that idiocy. Luffy was seeming to understand just what trouble they could get into for doing this, the youngest shifting around nervously as he glanced around the room.

"What about your rules?! Remember one of the big ones, don't do anything to make them turn on us?! I would say this violates that rule big time!" Sabo hissed as quietly as he could manage with how angry and nervous he was. He had his hearing focused on every single step he could manage, praying one of them wouldn't start heading their way.

"The darkness trumps all those rules." Ace muttered as he shuffled through papers on the desk in the room. Wherever they were it seemed to be almost like an office, or filing room. There was a desk that was littered with papers and bookcases all around, files and books all over. A glance told Sabo that this was probably where the Whitebeards kept all their important information and that only made this all the more dangerous.

"I don't think you understand Ace, darkness or not, if they find us in here they're kicking us off for sure! These pirates have Haki Ace, they don't need to see where we are to know we're in here!" Sabo said, practically seething as he couldn't get through to the hot head. Ace was frowning, but Sabo had a feeling it wasn't because of him, rather he probably couldn't find anything.

"Ace! What are you even looking for?!" Sabo asked, ready to drag his brother out.

"Calm down Sabo, I'm just looking for anything that might show they were calling the marines!" Ace hissed his own annoyance raising.

"Luffy, who was in this room last?" Ace asked, getting the smallest's attention. Luffy, who had been fidgeting quietly, sniffed the air for a second.

"Mmm... Lotta the Commandeers." Luffy said hesitantly. Ace scowled as he moved to the bookcases, skimming over folders and books quickly.

"Its Commanders Luffy, and you Ace, let's just go, there's nothing here!" Sabo said, almost mindlessly correcting Luffys mistaken words.

"Your right. Let's try the next room." Ace said, leaving the room they were in and heading to the one that had been on their left.

"No, that's not what I meant! Ugh! _ACE!_ " Sabo said, barely containing the shout he so desperately wanted to release. Once again, Ace ignored him, making his way into the new room, Sabo making sure to close the previous door shut before following.

"Man, nothing in here but stupid snails." Ace muttered as he glanced around the room. It only had a big table with chairs all around it and multiple transponder snails in the middle of the table.

"Great, can we go now?!" Sabo asked, grabbing Aces sleeve before the teen could head to the next room.

"No, there's still one more-"

'Ssh! Someones heading this way!" Sabo said, eyes going wide as he slapped a hand on Aces mouth. Ace glared at him but fell silent, the brothers quietly leaving the room and shutting the door.

'What do we do?' Luffy asked, and already Sabo could see the terror in his eyes.

'Don't worry, just follow me.' Sabo tapped back as he waited for the footsteps to get a bit closer. He had been too caught up in trying to leave that he had missed Vistas steps heading their way. Once he deemed the Commander close enough Sabo walked down the hallway to the intersection the Vista was coming up to.

"I told you we should have finished that tour with Izo, now we're lost," Sabo said, doing his best to use how annoyed and angry he was with Ace to his advantage. Catching on quickly Ace scowled at him.

"It's not my fault, how was I supposed to know how big this ship was?" Ace asked grumpily, arms once again crossed over his chest. Luffy stood silently between his brothers, knowing that they had things under control now, the tension quickly leaving him.

"There you boys are!" Vistas words had the brothers turning to look at the approaching man, Sabo quickly slipping a smile onto his face.

"Ah, Vista, it's a good thing you found us, we got a bit lost!" Sabo said, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head, hoping the act was believable. Vista smiled and laughed, making Sabo believe it had worked well enough.

"We thought you had taken another swim! It's a good thing Marco sensed you before anyone could go into too much of a panic!" Vista said with another laugh, Sabo laughing along as well.

"We're sorry to have worried you, but would you mind showing us the way back to the deck? Ace thought he knew the way to a closer bathroom and ended up getting us lost on the way back." Sabo explained, sending Ace a smile while the eldest glared back.

"No problem, just follow me. I'm not surprised you got lost, these halls can be a bit confusing." The mustached Commander said, turning and heading back towards where the deck was.

"Thank you."


	39. Surprise Attacks Suck

'I don't know why you're still mad, we didn't get caught so everything's fine!' Ace tapped from where he pretended to sleep against the railing. Sabo, who definitely wasn't scowling at the ocean, gripped the railing just a bit tighter in his hand.

'I'm not mad.' The blonde tapped out indignantly. Ace nearly scoffed.

'Luffy?'

'He's mad.' Sabo glared at the youngest, but Luffy merely smiled back sheepishly.

It was almost an hour after Ace had gone searching for the wherever the dark feeling had come from. Sabo had managed to put up a convincing act and told everyone that asked that they had just gotten lost on their way back from the bathroom, and the pirates seemed to accept it, but that didn't mean the anger had gone yet.

'If you had listened to me we wouldn't have been nearly caught in the first place.' Sabo tapped out, Ace rolling his partially opened eyes.

'We can't just ignore someone with the dark feeling!' Ace defended, skimming his eyes across the deck for anyone who might be watching them too closely.

'We weren't going to ignore it, but going through the Whitebeards information was too dangerous! We can't be doing things like that here!' Sabo argued, and boy was he trying to calm the anger bubbling in his chest with how stubborn his brother was being. He didn't want Luffy getting angry because of him.

'How else would we figure anything out? We can't exactly ask around if someone was feeling some especially dark thoughts!' Ace replied. Sabo knew that Ace was right about that, but still, the freckled teen hadn't gone about things the right way.

'Ok, fine, for the sake of keeping Luffy from getting influenced I'll forgive you, but next time talk about the plan before putting it into action.' Sabo tapped out sternly, Ace nodding minutely behind him.

'Fine. Lu, how're you feeling?' Ace asked the semi-argument over. Luffy looked across the horizon, a small smile on his face.

'Good. I'm using the warmth from big mustache Captain to keep the anger out.' Luffy explained, kicking his legs carelessly over the railing. Even though they were more careful about falling in that didn't stop them from sitting on the railing.

'As long as you don't take too much of it in, alright?' Sabo said, Luffy nodding in agreement. The blonde sighed and focused more on the sounds around them, the brothers' conversation dropping off.

Luffy was trying to look out for anyone with the darkness, feeling slightly responsible for what had happened after lunch because he didn't know where the feeling had come from. He had never felt someone's darkness just disappear like that, and he'd never felt such a weak darkness too, like the person was far away, but how far could the person get when they were in the middle of the ocean?

It was in the middle of this thought that suddenly, everyone, even the pirates- well those who were proficient in haki- sensed the incoming danger.

It was so fast that no one really had time to react, but they all knew exactly where this danger was heading, and that was right for Luffy.

Luffy's eyes widened and suddenly everything was moving in slow motion. He could see Sabo's eyes going wide beside him, could hear him shouting his name, he could hear the pirates running over, he could hear Ace getting up, also shouting his name, and then he felt weightless.

It had all happened so fast, yet so slow, and still, Luffy had no clue what really had happened. One second he was on the railing, that he knew for fact, but then he had somehow managed to get onto the deck floor, where Ace had been, and there was more shouting, still from Sabo, but this time it wasn't his name.

A bit disoriented, Luffy looked over to where he had been seconds before and only saw Ace's back. That was weird, when had Ace gotten in front of him? And what was falling onto the ground?

Luffys blood ran cold, his eyes widening now too, his breath hitching in his throat as he slowly realized what was on the ground and who it belonged to.

In seconds Ace was falling to his knees and Luffy could now clearly see the giant slash down the front of his chest, a diagonal cut that went from his right shoulder to his left hip. It was long, it was deep, and it was bleeding heavily.

"A-Ace?!" Luffy stuttered, quickly crawling forward to his brother and catching him before he fell fully.

"Ace!" He heard Sabo shout from beside him, saw the blonde leap off the railing and join his side, examining the deep wound. He had removed Aces yellow unbuttoned shirt quickly, showing off the wound fully now.

Luffy could feel bad feelings beginning to surround them and looked up, finding who he assumed to be the one responsible for hurting Ace, the one who, had Ace not stopped him, would have hurt him instead.

Right beside the Moby, in the ocean Sabo and Luffy had been looking at, there was another ship, not as big as the Moby but still pretty big, and it was filled with mean looking people, all staring right at them.

How had that gotten there?

"Someone call Whiskey, all men on deck now, yoi!" Marcos shouting was heard behind him, and suddenly the fighting began.

"Ace?! Ace, wake up!" Sabo was pleading with Ace, slapping his cheek as he began wadding the yellow shirt into a ball and doing his best to cover the wound.

"Luffy, come hold this down, put pressure on it, ok?" Sabo said, and Luffy was overwhelmed with the worry coming from Sabo. Trying to stop the tears he knew were already falling Luffy nodded, shuffling so he was on Aces other side rather than at his head and leaning over his brother, applying pressure like Sabo had instructed him to.

"Sabo, his waves getting harder to see!" Luffy cried, watching as the once bright, deep red wave that connected to Ace started becoming whispy and translucent. This seemed to worry Sabo more as his attempts at waking Ace became more frantic.

In the middle of him trying though Sabo suddenly shot up, jumping over Ace and hitting something behind Luffy. Turning, Luffy saw that it was one of the rival pirates, at least that's what Luffy was assuming they were, that had been attempting to attack Luffy. Sabo had kicked the man in the chest, sending him stumbling back and onto the ground while Sabo glared daggers at the man.

"Don't you dare try and hurt my brother." Sabo hissed out angrily. Luffy was about to turn when he felt another presence getting closer once more, another one with hostile intent. Luffy felt completely useless, everything happening so fast.

A pit formed in Luffy's stomach as he realized who the target was for the next attack, this one being the downed Ace. A strangled cry left him as he did his best to shield his fallen brother from whatever was to come, but it never came, instead, a flash of blue came, a coolness surrounding him.

Looking up Luffy saw Marco shielding him and Ace from the incoming attack, his arms covered in blue flames and looking like wings. The youngest couldn't see the commanders face, but he could feel the anger rolling off him like a gas.

"People like you make me sick, yoi." Marco spat out before swinging his leg into the air and kicking the man across the deck. Luffy watched with wide eyes, Marco turning to face him.

"You alright, yoi?" Marco asked, the anger instantly gone and replaced with worry. Mindlessly Luffy nodded, Sabo, running back to his side.

"Enough!" Whitebeards booming voice caught everyone's attention, the giant Captain now standing with a glare on his face as his eyes roamed across the deck.

"You pirates are the worst kind, attacking downed men. If it was a fight you wanted with me, then its a fight you'll get!" Some of the rival pirates looked ready to charge the man, while most looked terrified as they realized just what they'd gotten themselves into. Nobody could move though as Whitebeard sent out a wave of haki, knocking almost all of the pirates out beside two, one seemingly the Captain.

"Now get lost you damn brat," Whitebeard growled, swinging his bisento into the Captain and his crewmember, sending them both flying back to their own ship. Cheers erupted from the Whitebeards at the victory, some beginning to throw the downed rivals back to their ship while others began cleaning up the blood and discarded weapons. A few left to get the nurses and a couple began pulling any wounded, which wasn't much, over to the side and out of the way while the Commanders headed their way.

"Ooh, that looks nasty," Haruta said with a wince as he saw Aces wound. Luffy, still slightly in shock of everything, remembered the wound he was supposed to be putting pressure to and immediately placed his hands firmly onto the previously yellow shirt, now completely covered in the red blood.

"Ruta." Izo hissed, nudging Haruta with his elbow.

"Ah, sorry, I'm sure Whiskey and the others will be able to patch it up easy," Haruta said apologetically. Luffys lip was trembling, he knew that, and the tears were coming again, because Ace was hurt because of him, and now his brother would have to go with the nurses again, and Aces wave was getting harder to see, and it was almost as bad as when Ace had been in a coma.

"Luffy," Sabo said softly, putting a hand on the youngest's shoulder. The straw-hatted boy refused to look up, eyes narrowed and focused on Aces wound, one that wasn't getting better, even with the eldest's fast recovery rate.

"Luffy, listen," Sabo said again, this time a little louder. Looking over to Sabo a bit grudgingly he waited to hear what Sabo would say.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up? I'll stay here with Ace and... and make sure he gets help." Sabo said, glancing quickly to Ace as he said the words. There was no way he wanted to send Ace to the nurses, but this wasn't just something they could play off, it wasn't something they could just say, 'Oops, he got a little scratched up, he'll be fine after a nap!'

They would have to get the nurses help, and Sabo really wasn't looking forward to that. Luffy was already a mess, the boy didn't need to see his seriously injured brother get carried away by people he didn't trust and leave them to save his brothers life.

"No! I wanna stay with Ace!" Luffy shouted, drawing more attention to them. Sabo sighed, trying to bury his worry and send Luffy feelings of warmth.

"Don't worry Lu, I'll handle this, really, trust me. Besides, what would Ace say about our baby brother worrying about him?" Sabo asked, trying to force a smile to his lips. Luffys lip trembled a bit more, but he regretfully nodded, slowly letting his hands release the pressure on the wound, seeing they were drenched in blood.

"I'll go help him get cleaned up, yoi." Marco offered, stepping forward. Sabo hesitated, biting his tongue from telling the Commander that Luffy could do it on his own just fine. He really didn't want to send Luffy off on his own, much less with someone else, but he also didn't want to send Ace off with the nurses alone, and he knew that if Luffy went with him to the infirmary then he would probably have a panic attack with all the triggers that go along with the place.

His best option was to send Luffy with Marco. Sure, the man had become much more trustworthy in his eyes, especially after today where he had saved both Ace and Luffy when he couldn't, but did that mean he trusted him to go alone with Luffy?

'What do you think Lu?' Sabo asked quickly, and even though Luffy was more than a bit out of it after everything, he was still able to look over to Marco and judge the man's intentions.

'Good. Trust him.' Luffy replied simply. He did trust Marco, and he knew that even if he wasn't with Sabo his brother would still keep an ear out to make sure he was ok. Sabo looked at Luffy for a second before nodding.

"Thank you, Commander," Sabo said, watching carefully as Luffy slowly stood up and began trudging away. Sabo couldn't help but send him a worried glance before he could hear the nurses closing in, ready to take Ace away from him.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The walk with Marco and Luffy was made in silence, the two of them heading straight to the washroom where Marco started filling up a bucket with hot water. Luffy sat down on a bench and watched Aces wave closely, constantly aware of how fast it was fading.

He was so focused on it he almost didn't realize Marco was kneeling in front of him, the bucket at his side and washcloth in hand, dripping with hot water.

"I sent Izo to get you some new clothes, but for now let's get all the blood off, yoi," Marco said. Luffy nodded numbly, putting out one of his hands and letting Marco gently wipe away the blood.

Something Sabo and Luffy hadn't thought about was just how pliable Luffy's skin could be sometimes, and it was at this moment Luffy realized that he may very well get caught having a devil fruit power. Although Marco was being gentle he was still rubbing hard enough for the blood to come off, in turn allowing the skin to stretch just a bit too much. As long as Marco didn't look too much into it he would be fine, but Luffy hoped now, of all times, wouldn't be the time that the pirates found out about his powers.

Everything went well though, and soon Marco was removing blood from his face, everything else clean. Luffy had been intently watching the wave and was extremely nervous to say that it hadn't gotten better, but on the bright side, it also wasn't getting any worse. It was faint and barely visible, but it was there, and Luffy just prayed that it didn't suddenly disappear on him.

He wasn't sure what happened to the wave when someone died, but he was guessing that it wouldn't be visible at all.

"There, that should be good, yoi," Marco said, dipping the washcloth into the now red water and wiping his own hands off. A knock on the door had Marco standing, opening it to find Izo. Luffy didn't bother listening to the conversation, and it was over within seconds anyways, Marco coming back in with new clothes in his hands.

"Here. I'll leave so you can get dressed, yoi. If you need anything just call." Marco said, and once more Luffy nodded mutely. He watched Marco go and waited until the door was firmly shut before he stood, frowning deeply and letting his tears fall fast and hard. He hadn't exactly been holding them in on purpose, but now that there was no one there, they had just come.

With blurry vision he managed to change his clothes, vaguely aware of the fact that he could smell and hear both Marco and Izo outside the room, telling him that they were both waiting for him. Wiping away any residual tears Luffy picked up his dirty clothes and headed to the door, opening it and peeking out.

"Hey there Luffy, everything good?" Izo asked with a small smile. Luffy nodded a bit hesitantly before he opened the door more and stepped out. He trusted Izo a bit too, but not as much as he trusted Marco. Lady-not-lady had helped him with his hat though, and he knew he wasn't all that bad.

"Why don't I take those from you?" Izo asked, gesturing to the dirty clothes in Luffys hand. Again Luffy nodded, handing the items over to the man and standing awkwardly.

"Let's head back to the deck, yoi," Marco said, he and Izo turning and beginning walking. Luffy was a little twitchy as he followed, still unsure about everything. He was alone, without his brothers, and he just wanted to be with Ace, but Ace was in the infirmary and the infirmary smelled like the facility and Luffy didn't want to think about the facility right now, but now he was thinking about the facility, and he was about to start crying again, but Ace doesn't like crybabies, and-

"One time my brother got hurt. Almost as bad as Ace did, yoi." Marcos voice drew Luffy out of his spiraling thoughts and his focus was on the commander now. Izo glanced over to Marco with a hint of confusion on his face, yet he said nothing, letting Marco continue.

"It was when we went to defend one of our islands. You know what devil fruits are, right, yoi?" Marco asked, and Luffy nodded.

"Well, he had one, my brother. His names Lyle, don't think you've met him yet, yoi. Anyways, we were in a fight with some pirates who thought they were big shots and could take one of Pops' territories. I think it's safe to say that they were wrong, but that didn't mean we won without casualties." Marco said, and Luffy, for once, wasn't focused on the fight that had happened only a handful of minutes ago, he wasn't worried about everything that had happened at the facility, he wasn't even worried about the fact that he was walking with two people who weren't his brothers! His whole attention was put to focusing on Marcos words, listening to the story with avid interest.

"Lyle's apart of my division so he was near me when we were fighting. We were almost finished, but right as I finished taking down my opponent, yoi, I sensed someone going to attack Lyle who was taking on a few of his own opponents. I didn't have time to reach him and he ended up with a large cut along his hip, from armpit to the back of his knee." Marco explained, pointing along his own body where the cut had been. Luffy's eyes widened at how massive the cut was, waiting for Marco to continue, wanting to know how it ended.

"We took down the rest of the pirates and had Whiskey and the others come to take the injured. Lyle had to go into surgery and no one knew if he would make it, yoi. After a few hours, Whiskey came out and told us she had managed to save him just in time, and now he's perfectly healthy. He's even got the scar to prove he's survived, yoi." Marco said, finishing the story as they reached the deck.

"Really?" Luffy asked in wonder. Marco smiled to him, nodding as he made his way to Whitebeard.

"Really really," Marco said, and Luffy beamed.

"Ace is strong, he's gonna survive, I know it!" Luffy said confidently, gripping the edges of his straw hat tightly in both hands, pulling it down onto his head.

"I believe that yoi. Why don't we go wait by Pops? I'm sure he's got plenty more stories to tell then I do, yoi." Marco said, waving a hand over to the Captain. Luffy, smile still on his face, nodded rapidly. If there was anyone on this ship he trusted more than Marco it was the Captain. He knew he would be safe by the giant and had no qualms about waiting for his brothers there.

As he began making his way there Izo stopped Marco, waiting until Luffy was out of hearing range.

"Lyle got that scar in a bar fight," Izo said with a raised eyebrow. Marco smiled to him, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I know."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Sabo sighed in both relief and exhaustion. It had been nearly an hour, maybe two, since the nurses had come and taken Ace into the infirmary. At first, they weren't going to let Sabo follow them, but after a bit of arguing on his part and Whitebeards permission he was allowed to stand along the wall, out of the nurse's way, and watch.

It had been extremely touch and go for a while and Sabo's eyes were feeling a bit strained from how carefully he was watching every nurses movement, making sure they were solely trying to patch his brother up and not do any weird unnecessary tests in the process.

At one point they had nearly lost Ace, and Sabo was sure Luffy was freaking out, but every time he tried listening in on his brother he heard nothing from him, just Marco or the water they were cleaning him up with.

Finally, though, the nurses had finished. Ace was stabilized and Luffy was being kept occupied by Whitebeard who was telling him stories.

Sabo definitely felt his trust in Whitebeard and Marco rise after this incident, especially with everything that had happened. They had had plenty of opportunities to get rid of the brothers, be it through sending them to the marines or just letting them die, but they had adamantly fought against all those opportunities and kept the brothers safe.

"Why don't you go tell your brother that this one's fine? We'll move him to a bed to rest and you two can come back and wait with him." Whiskey said softly as she walked up to Sabo. She looked exhausted as well, her hair frizzy and forehead slick with sweat. Her gloves and clothes were both covered in blood, and all in all she looked a mess, but that's what hours of surgery does to a person.

A quick glance at Ace showed his brother sleeping peacefully, a bit paler then he should be, but alive and breathing.

Normally Sabo wouldn't let Ace out of his sight after this, but right now he needed to get Luffy and tell him Ace was ok for the time being. Hopefully, their brother's fast healing would kick in now and he'd be good to go in a few days. Besides, after all of this, his trust in the nurses on this ship had also increased. It was a small increase, but it was an increase all the same.

"Alright, I'll be back," Sabo said, and he could even hear how tired he sounded. He left the infirmary, keeping an ear out for the nurses trying to do anything to Ace they weren't supposed to. His trust in them may have gone up a bit, but like he said, it wasn't that much.

He walked quietly through the halls, using both his memory and hearing to make his way to the deck. When he reached it he beelined right to Luffy and Whitebeard having no doubt that Luffy could smell him coming but was too caught up in Whitebeards story to notice. Sabo smiled a bit at that, happy that at least Luffy was able to relax instead of worry over Ace like he had been.

"Luffy," Sabo called as he grew closer, noticing that a few of the commanders were there too, namely Marco, Izo, Jozu, and Curiel.

"Sabo!" And just like that Luffy seemed to remember everything that had happened as he launched up from where he was sitting in front of Whitebeard, turning to Sabo and bolting over to him. Obviously, he wasn't planning on stopping with how fast he was going and Sabo braced himself, ready for a Luffy sized impact. When it came he stumbled back a bit, but caught himself from falling, holding Luffy in his arms.

"Sabo, hows Ace? Is he ok? Can we go see him? When-" Sabo stopped Luffys ramblings, laughing.

"Calm down Luffy, Ace is ok," Sabo said though he couldn't really fault Luffy for worrying.

"Really?!" Luffy asked happily, relief spreading across his face.

"That's right. You weren't doubting him were you?" Sabo asked playfully, raising an eyebrow. Luffy shook his head, still clinging to Sabo.

"No! Cause Ace would get mad, and Ace is strong!" Luffy said confidently. Sabo laughed again, ruffling Luffys hair, his straw hat dangling from the string around his neck.

"Don't confuse strong with stubborn Lu," Sabo said, this time causing Luffy to smile. Turning to the Captain and Commanders Sabo bowed, Luffy following suit even though he had no clue why.

"Thank you for helping both of my brothers," Sabo said, genuinely thankful.

"It was no problem, as long as you're on this ship you're apart of our family, and family keeps each other safe. Now, head off and be with your brother." Whitebeard said with a smile. Sabo stood straight, nodding to the Captain and taking Luffy's hand, leading him to the infirmary.

Maybe these pirates weren't so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Many of you were right in your theories on where the darkness had come from last chapter! Luffy did feel it from a transponder snail, because in my mind, the snails can do such a good job expressing emotions coming from the people using them that I feel Luffy would be able to pick up on them as if the person was there. I wont divulge who the feelings came from, but I'm pretty sure you all know who it was anyways.
> 
> This chapter had more action as promised, though it involved Ace getting hurt.
> 
> Whoops.
> 
> It was a necessary development though, because now the brothers are beginning to trust more, which wouldn't have happened if they continued sitting at the railings and not interacting with anyone. It doesn't mean I don't feel bad for nearly killing Ace there though.
> 
> More information on the attack will be divulged next chapter, as well as the pirates' reaction to it all.


	40. Another Infirmary Day

That night Luffy was riddled with nightmares. Sabo understood, he actually expected it, so every time his sensitive hearing picked up on Luffy in another one of them he woke up and helped the youngest.

Ace managed to sleep through everything and wasn't expected to get up for a few days, though Sabo and Luffy knew that he'd probably be awake by the next day.

When the early morning light finally came Sabo and Luffy both had given up on falling into any sort of peaceful sleep, opting instead to get up for the day. The nurses had let them use one of the beds beside Ace seeing as they had more than plenty to spare.

It was probably still really early, Sabo could only hear a few people up, most of them were those on watch or beginning breakfast, meaning it was still some ungodly hour to be up.

"How you feelin' Lu?" Sabo asked softly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His oversensitive ears were begging for silence after just waking up, but he ignored the slight ache from how loud everything seemed.

"Nose hurts," Luffy muttered, rubbing said appendage with a grimace. Sabo gave Luffy a sympathetic look, knowing that if his ears hurt, Luffy's nose hurt ten times worse with the strong smells in the infirmary.

"Sorry Lu, hopefully it'll dull in a bit," Sabo said, rubbing Luffys back as he got out of the bed, moving to the chair beside Ace's bed. Luffy nodded, also getting out of the bed and sitting in a chair. Bandages covered the entirety of Aces chest giving Sabo and Luffy no indication as to how well his wound was healing, but they were sure the nurses would come to check on it eventually.

Time passed slowly, Luffy pleased to see that Aces wave was back to full opacity and brightness, and the two began to wonder just how early they had decided to get up. Before they could think about that for long Ace groaned, alerting them to the fact that he was waking up.

"Ace!" Luffy cheered happily, beaming as he leaned over is waking brother. Sabo stood beside Luffy, watching with a relieved smile.

"Ah, geez, what hurts?" Ace groaned.

"That would be the giant cut across your chest." Whiskeys voice made the brothers jump a bit, none of them having been aware that she had walked in, even with their senses and haki.

That was slightly concerning.

"Cut? What're you talkin' 'bout?" Ace asked, using a hand to slide himself into a sitting position.

"Woah, woah, woah there, you shouldn't be sitting up, not with your injury!" Whiskey cried, trying to urge Ace into laying back down. Although confused and disoriented, Sabo had to give Ace credit that he didn't snap at the nurse.

"It's fine." Ace said, rolling his eyes, but laying back down none the less. Whiskey sighed a breath of relief, lifting her clipboard to look at something.

"Regardless, you also shouldn't be up yet. You need all the rest you can get, but as long as you're up, we should change the bandages." Whiskey said, ticking something off on her board before nodding to herself, walking off, probably for bandages.

"Ace! I'm so happy you're awake! Your wave got really tiny and it was hard to see, and I was scared, but Marco was nice, and Mr. Captain, and-" Once again Sabo had to cut the rambling boy off.

"We're both happy you're awake. Why do you always have to go and scare us though?" Sabo asked, crossing his arms and giving Ace a pointed look.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Ace countered weakly. Sabo rolled his eyes but smiled, still happy that nothing _too_ bad had happened. Honestly though, this had been pretty bad.

"Now, let's get those old bandages off." Whiskey said as she came back, Sabo and Luffy backing away a bit from the bed to give the nurse more space. All of the brothers watched her carefully, ready to stop her if she pulled anything that wasn't a bandage out.

As she began unwrapping the bandages they got themselves ready for questions that the nurse would surely have after seeing Ace's wound being magically much better then it had been the day previous.

When the bandages began unraveling away enough that they surely should have been showing a nasty gash, Whiskey was confused when she saw that the cut was much smaller then it had been, the wound having closed up a good bit during the night. It wasn't one hundred percent healed, but after what it had looked like yesterday, this was an extreme improvement.

"Wha- How- I don't understand..." Whiskey said, trailing off as she unwrapped the bandages faster, though still mindful not to hurt Ace in the process. The brothers couldn't help but be slightly amused at how at a loss the nurse was.

"What's wrong?" Sabo asked, trying to sound worried instead of amused.

"No, nothings wrong, it's just... you've seemed to heal at an absolutely remarkable rate!" Whiskey said, still amazed as she fully unwrapped the wound, standing back to look.

"What might have caused it?" Sabo asked, continuing to play dumb, watching in amusement as Whiskey tried to figure it out.

"I don't know. This happened last time too though, with the coma. You woke up much earlier then you should have." Whiskey said, thinking for another second before snapping out of it.

"Well, in any case, this means you'll be able to leave by tomorrow then." Whiskey announced, moving to rewrap the wound. As she finished she took a few more notes and did a quick check-up on all three of them before leaving.

"Man am I glad she's gone." Ace said as he sat up again, this time without Whiskey telling him to lie back down.

"Shes just doing her job Ace, but I've gotta agree with you on that one," Sabo said with a sigh, sitting back down in the chair while Luffy had no qualms about getting into the bed with Ace.

"So, what have I missed?" Ace asked as he stretched, wincing when he pulled his arm too far and it stretched the wound as well, sending a pain through him.

"Well, Whitebeard and Marco are both good guys," Sabo said, remembering how they had taken care of Luffy yesterday. Ace raised an eyebrow at that though, wrapping an arm around Luffy to make it more comfortable for the both of them.

"What do you mean? I thought we already knew that." Ace said, thinking back to the fact that Luffy had deemed them good a long time ago.

"We knew they probably wouldn't be the ones to turn on us without warning, but now we know we can trust them, at least, to an extent," Sabo explained, only proving to confuse Ace further.

"What? When did that happen?" The eldest asked, not quite sure how he felt about trusting anyone on this ship.

"Yesterday! Marco was really nice and helped me clean up after you got hurt, and he told me a story about his brother and then Whitebeard told me all these cool stories about his adventures while I waited for Sabo to get me!" Luffy explained with a smile. Ace gave Sabo an incredulous look at that though, eyes wide.

"You left him alone with them?!" Ace practically shouted, though trying his best to stay quiet to keep from drawing attention to them. Sabo sighed, knowing this was bound to happen.

"I wasn't happy about it either Ace, but there was no choice." Sabo tried explaining. Ace scoffed.

"What do you mean, 'no choice'? All you had to do was keep him with you!" Ace said. Sabo tried keeping calm knowing Ace had no idea the state he and Luffy had been in yesterday after he had been attacked.

"I don't think you understand Ace. After you were attacked Luffy was practically hysterical and already on the verge of panicking. When they sent for nurses I wasn't going to just let them take you here without making sure they didn't try doing any tests on you so I had to follow them, but if I had taken Luffy with me he surely would have been thrown into a panic attack." Sabo said, a bit slower than normal to make sure Ace understood every word he was saying.

"Therefore, I had to leave him to at least get himself cleaned up while I watched the nurses. I kept an ear on him the entire time and left him with Marco seeing as we already knew he was a relatively good guy to begin with, but after you went down he saved both you and Luffy from someone trying to attack you. It would have been the perfect excuse to let both of you die because no one could blame him for not getting there fast enough, but he chose to save you two when I couldn't." Sabo continued. Ace was silent now, mulling over his brother's words while Luffy snuggled into Ace at the mention of everything that had happened yesterday.

"...Alright... so Marcos a good guy, and I guess Whitebeards a pretty good guy too, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna trust them with everything!" Ace said defiantly. Sabo sighed in relief, glad that Ace at least trusted the two a bit.

"I didn't expect you to. I don't think even I trust them with everything yet either." Sabo said, Luffy nodding his agreement silently. It fell silent after that, Sabo listening to everything else to figure out around what time it was.

"I think breakfast is ready by the sounds of it. Thatch just said he's coming here, probably with food." Sabo said as he focused on the footsteps of the chef.

"He is, it smells really good, his bacons the best!" Luffy said, mouth watering at the smell of the bacon, toast, eggs, orange juice, muffins, bagels...

The food in general.

Ace pouted at his brother's words, resisting the urge to cross his arms.

"Still think I should have gotten X-Ray vision too. What's the point of super vision if I'm always limited by walls?" Ace asked, glaring at the walls surrounding them. This time Sabo rolled his eyes, slapping Aces arm.

"Don't say that. For all we know that was their next idea." Sabo said. Ace sighed.

"Yeah yeah, those doctors were insane." He muttered with a frown.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Later that day, the Commanders and Captain were in their meeting room going over everything that had happened, not having had time to yesterday with everything that had been going on.

"Do we know how the pirates got close enough to attack without any of us noticing?" Whitebeard asked from where he sat. The Commanders glanced at each other, wondering if anyone knew.

"I overheard that one guy had a devil fruit that they used, but other than that I have no clue," Jiru announced. That seemed the most logical, because without a devil fruit how else would they have gotten so close without any of them detecting them? Not to mention that the enemy ship had literally appeared right beside theirs.

"Anyone else hear anything, yoi?" Marco asked, everyone shaking their heads in response.

"I didn't hear anything, but they had to have had some weird devil fruit for them to appear without any of us sensing them with haki until it was too late," Rakuyo said, everyone, nodding their agreement.

"Speaking of, how did Ace know Luffy was gonna be attacked?" Blenheim asked. Thatch raised an eyebrow.

"Ace knew?" The chef asked. He hadn't been out on deck when the attack started, having been stuck in the kitchen working on lunch since the other chefs were sick.

"Oh yeah, he jumped up from where he was sleeping and pulled Luffy off the railing before he could get hit. Too bad he ended up getting hurt though." Haruta said, remembering back to the events of yesterday.

"I'm telling you guys, they have haki! Remember when I was telling you all about Sabo's uncanny ability to know I was gonna knock?" Thatch said in an, 'I told you so' manner.

"Did you ask them if they had Haki?" Whitebeard asked, curiosity rising.

"Yeah, but Sabo had no clue what I was talking about." Thatch said, confused now too.

"It's rare, but maybe they were born with it?" Izo questioned. There was a collective shrug from everyone seeing as they knew nothing about the brothers.

"Whatever the case, its likely that the brothers have haki so we should keep that in mind, yoi," Marco said, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"How many were injured in the attack?" Whitebeard asked, moving on with the meeting.

"15, including Ace," Namur stated, having been in charge of counting heads and helping people to the infirmary.

"Whiskey should be by soon with her report on the injured," Jozu said, glancing over to the door.

As they waited for the nurse to arrive they went over everything that had happened yesterday once more so they could make sure everything was in order and also making sure Thatch knew what happened. It wasn't too long into the retelling that there was a knock at the door, Whiskey announcing her presence and Whitebeard calling for her to enter.

"I brought the report on the injured Oyaji." She said, waving the file in the air. Whitebeard nodded and she sat down at the end of the table, opening the folder and looking at the contents.

"Well, for starters, almost all of the injuries were minor, just some small cuts and bruises here and there. Kit had a particularly deep cut though that needed a few stitches and Roman got himself a pretty bad sprained ankle so he shouldn't do anything strenuous, but other than that everyone's clear." Whiskey reported, checking over her notes to be sure she mentioned everything, not that there was much to mention.

"What about Ace?" Atmos asked, everyone wondering the same thing. Here Whiskey sighed, slumping down a bit and confusing everyone.

"Is something wrong daughter?" Whitebeard asked, worried that something bad might have happened to Ace regarding his injury. Whitebeard hadn't gotten a good look at it when it had happened, but the glance he did see told him that it was a pretty bad wound.

"No, nothing's wrong, actually, everything's great." Whiskey said, running her fingers through her hair in slight frustration.

"Oook~? So what's the issue?" Thatch asked, raising an eyebrow. Everyone watched her with curiosity, wondering what had Whiskey so thrown.

"As I said, there is no issue. Aces wound initially was life-threatening. After hours of surgery, we managed to stabilize him to the point where we didn't need to worry about him dying on us. I bandaged him up and left him to rest." Whiskey recounted, remembering just how bad the eldest brothers gash had been yesterday.

"Thing is, with how bad it was, he wasn't expected to wake up for at least a few days. Now, it isn't all that surprising that he woke up today, but what is surprising is that, when I went to change his bandages, his injury was almost completely healed!" Whiskey said incredulously, throwing her hands in the air in confusion.

"Wait, almost healed? How's that possible?" Vista asked, causing Whiskey to huff.

"Beats me! That kid should have a painful, throbbing wound right across his chest, and now its barely causing him any pain and nearly healed. It makes no sense!" Whiskey said, looking over the notes she had about Aces wounds again, thinking that there had to be something there that could explain this.

"All I know is that something had to be ramping up his cells, allowing them to multiply faster and repair the wound, but whatever's causing them to do that, I haven't a clue." Whiskey said, reading and rereading her notes in growing frustration.

"Maybe he's just a fast healer?" Haruta asked, knowing it was a stupid suggestion but not having any other ideas.

"Screw fast, he's practically a miracle healer! That wound needed weeks to heal, not days, and much less two. By tomorrow, if his healing continues on this rate, he should be out of the infirmary with just a smaller cut where it was deeper. There also should be scarring based on how deep he was cut, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if there was none." Whiskey said with an exhausted sigh.

"These brothers make less and less sense the more we know about them," Kingdew said, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"Really, we don't know anything about them, everything we think we know is just speculation, yoi." Marco corrected, scribbling some more writing down on his paper.

"When will we get any answers about them?" Thatch whined, throwing his arms back behind his head and tilting his chair back on its back legs.

"I'm sure when they're more comfortable around us and see we mean no harm they'll explain the things we don't understand," Izo said, pulling out his fan to hide his face.

"Well, how long is that gonna take?" Fossa asked.

"Patience my sons, after the trauma those boys have been through its not surprising that they aren't willing to give information so easy," Whitebeard said, trying to soothe his sons.

"Oyaji's right, whatever they've been through has definitely taken its toll on them. I'd say we're lucky we even know as much about them as we do." Whiskey said, trying to find the light in their small victories.

"Yeah, I bet it won't be long now till they see we're not trying to hurt them. After all, just yesterday Sabo left Luffy all alone with us, right?" Haruta asked, remembering that it had been the first time Luffy, or any of the brothers really, had been without the other two at their side.

"He did, didn't he? Maybe they are getting more comfortable here." Vista said fondly, smiling at the thought. With that there wasn't any more to be said so the meeting was ended, the Commanders and Captain all getting up to go do their own things.

"Man, I still can't believe I missed all the fun yesterday." Thatch whined as he stood up and headed to the door.

"Oh, don't worry Thatch, knowing these waters we'll be having another fight in no time!" Rakuyo said, patting the chef on the back as he passed him out the door.

"Yeah, I guess your right... but I totally missed a chance to hang out with little Luffy too!" Thatch cried, crocodile tears forming fast.

"And there'll be more opportunities for that as well," Izo said, rolling his eyes as he also left the room. Thatch huffed, watching as the last commander left the room.

"Why do I always miss those opportunities?"


	41. Calming Constellations

"Another nightmare?" Ace grumbled out as he slowly woke back up for the third time to shaking at his side.

"Mhmm, they've been pretty bad since you got hurt," Sabo answered softly, equally groggy as he tried waking Luffy from whatever terrors were happening in his brothers' dreams.

Yesterday had been long, boring, and stressful. Being in the infirmary again brought back many painful, unwanted memories for the brothers, but there was no getting around it. They weren't going to leave Ace and they weren't going to just walk out and risk the wrath of a nurse, so they opted to stay in the terror-inducing room.

Seeing as this was the case, Luffy's sleep had been riddled with nightmares once again, both due to the smells in the room and the memories, but also because of the trauma of Aces attack. The youngest was sharing a bed with Ace, refusing to leave his brothers' side in fear that he'd wake up and the wave would be transparent again. Whenever a nightmare came on though Sabo would hear it and wake up first, tasking himself with waking the boy up before the nightmare could get any worse and, in the process, wake Ace up as well.

"Come on Lu, wake up, it's just another nightmare," Sabo said, a yawn coming out mid-sentence.

"Luufffyyyy~, wake uuuuppp~!" Ace groaned out. He loved his little brother, he did, but this was the third time he was being rudely awoken and he just wanted to go back to sleep. He didn't blame the boy though, after all, he had no control over his dreams.

"Lu, wake up," Sabo said in a much more soothing voice then Ace's had been, gently shaking him as he did. Finally, Luffy woke up, his breathing a bit heavy and fast, eyes opening slowly at first before they went wide and he was sitting upright as quick as lightning. Sabo had no warning besides past experience and was lucky enough to move away from him before he ended up being headbutted by the terrified Luffy.

"Atta boy." Ace mumbled out, rubbing his eyes as he sat up a bit, ignoring the slight sting from his injury.

"Calm down Lu, everything's fine, we're still right here." Sabo soothed, rubbing his brothers back in hopes that it would calm him down faster.

It was still pitch black outside, indicating that not much time had passed since the last nightmare and it was still late at night. Sabo was really hoping that this would be the last nightmare of the night but knew that that was unlikely.

"Sorry," Luffy said quietly, relaxing a bit as he became more aware of what had happened.

"Its fine Lu, it wasn't your fault," Sabo said, yawning again at the end as he felt his eyelids droop a bit.

"Do you wanna go sit out on deck for a minute? It might calm you down a little faster." Sabo suggested, glancing to see that Ace was already passed out again.

"Mhmm." Luffy hummed, lifting the blanket and getting out of bed. He shivered at the harsh contrast of the cold air compared to the warm bed and Sabo, having noticed, grabbed the blanket off his bed.

"Come on, I'll keep an ear on Ace while we sit," Sabo said, wrapping the blanket around Luffys shoulders and taking his hand. Luffy nodded again, holding the blanket tight with his free hand and allowing Sabo to lead him out of the smelly infirmary, nose twitching in pain from the burning smell.

Like the infirmary it was pitch dark in the halls, making it difficult for Sabo to see where they were trying to go, but he managed, keeping a hand on the wall to orient himself and walking towards the light seeping under the door at the end of the hallway. Once reaching it Sabo pushed it open, revealing the deck, and a quick listen told him that there were only those in the crow's nest and four patrolling the railings. Because of this, and not wanting to get in the way, Sabo led Luffy beside the door, against the wall, and sat down, both looking up at the dark sky.

The moon was full and lit the entirety of the deck up with ease. Stars were littered across the sky as well and there were only a few small clouds drifting along slowly, the wind almost non-existent. It was a quiet, peaceful night.

"I like the stars," Luffy said softly, not daring to speak too loud. Even the soft way he spoke though sounded loud and clear to Sabo, with or without his sensitive hearing.

"I do too. Hey, did you know that the stars form pictures in the sky?" Sabo asked, both trying to keep himself awake as well as calm Luffy.

"Really?" The boy asked in wonder, glancing at his brother and then back to the sky with interest, trying to see what Sabo meant.

"That's right, they're called constellations," Sabo said, also looking back up to the sky, trying to find one.

"Like, right there, that ones Gemini, the sign of twins. If you look it kind of looks like two people holding hands." Sabo explained, pointing out the stars as best he could to Luffy. It took him a minute, but eventually, Luffy smiled brightly, turning to Sabo.

"I see it!" After that Sabo spent a few minutes just pointing out different constellations for Luffy, both of them being careful to be quiet so they didn't disturb anyone. At one point one of the pirates patrolling the deck noticed them, but he merely smiled and waved to them before continuing on, the brothers waving back as he did.

When Luffy yawned Sabo decided that they should probably head back to the infirmary to try and get a little bit more sleep, Luffy begrudgingly agreeing and standing, following Sabo back and scrunching his nose at the wave of smell that assaulted his nose as they entered.

"Where'd'you guys go?" Ace slurred out, sounding like he was just waking up again.

"We went and sat out on deck for a bit. We're gonna try and get some more sleep, but could you tell us how to get back to the beds? I'd really rather not knock over everything in this room trying to get there myself." Sabo said, glancing around blindly in the darkness. It had been easier to get out because of the small amount of light under the door, but now they were heading into the room where there wasn't a single speck of light to help them.

"Yeah, jus' walk forward." Ace instructed, moving from the sounds of it. Sabo did as he was told, Luffy holding onto his hand as they followed the instructions until Ace told them to stop, his voice now directly on their left.

"Alright, turn left, keep going, keep goin- stop, turn a little more right- yeah, okay, now just walk forward. If you put your hands out you'll feel the beds." Ace said, a little more awake now. After a few seconds, Sabo was climbing back into his bed, sighing happily at the warmth that encompassed him, while Luffy crawled back into bed with Ace, giving Sabo back his blanket.

"Night guys," Sabo said, already closing his eyes and falling back asleep.

"Night." Ace and Luffy chorused back, both of them snuggling up together as they too fell asleep.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

By the time morning rolled around Luffy had only had one more nightmare, much less then Sabo and Ace had been expecting. It was before breakfast, but not by much, and Whiskey was on her way, Sabo hearing that she was coming to see how Ace was doing.

When she walked in Sabo and Luffy were sitting in the chairs by Aces bed, Sabo having had to persuade Luffy to leave the bed so Whiskey could check on Ace.

"Good morning you three, how are all of you today?" She asked, smiling sweetly to them. Sabo smiled back, resisting the urge to shiver at the smile.

"We're doing well, thank you. What about you?" Sabo asked politely, forcing himself to continue smiling. Whiskey made her way over to Ace, holding a roll of bandages in one hand and her clipboard in the other.

"About the same. Now, let's see how that injury of yours is." Whiskey said, sitting on her rolly stool and beginning to gently unwrap Aces bandages, showing them all that the once huge, red wound was now a thin, nearly gone line across his chest.

"It seems much better now. Everything looks to be healing correctly, and no infections so that's good. I think all we need now is to rewrap it and by tomorrow it'll be gone." Whiskey said as she inspected the cut, scanning over it carefully as if something would pop out to her and explain the fast healing.

"When will he be able to leave?" Sabo asked, trying to be as polite as possible without showing just how bad they wanted out of the infirmary they worked so hard to stay away from.

"Hmm... I think if everything's still alright after breakfast then Ace here should be all clear to leave. I do want you to come back tomorrow though so I can remove the bandages and rewrap them if necessary." Whiskey informed, looking to Ace at the last bit. Before allowing Ace to bite back something Sabo answered for him, smiling once more.

"Thank you Whiskey, we'll be sure to come by tomorrow then." He said, wanting the interaction to be over now. The nurse nodded, quickly rewrapping the injury with practiced ease before sliding back from the bed and standing.

"Well, Thatch should be by soon with breakfast. Once you're finished I'll come by as well and we can work on getting you out of here." Whiskey said, writing on her clipboard. Sabo nodded, thanking the nurse one more time, and she left the brothers.

"Man, I can't wait to get out of here!" Ace groaned, stretching his arms out, pleased to feel that the once sharp sting was now dull and bearable.

"The sooner we're out the better." Sabo agreed, glancing around. Yesterday there had been a few Whitebeards in here, all of them getting check-ups from Whiskey before leaving, but today there was no one, although it was still a bit early. The only people there were the brothers, Whiskey, and a few other nurses that the brothers were sure to keep a close eye on.

A yawn from Ace reminded Sabo and Luffy just how tired they were, all their nights having been pretty rough with the nightmares that they all had had, Luffy especially.

"Maybe we should take a nap later." Ace said after he yawned once more, immediately after the first one. Sabo, unable to resist yawning himself, looked at Ace with a bit of a smile.

"We've barely been up for half an hour and you're already scheduling nap time," Sabo said with a hint of teasing in his voice, though he agreed with Ace.

"So what if I am, according to the nurses here, I need all the rest I can get, so ha." Ace said triumphantly, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at Sabo who rolled his eyes. Luffy laughed, feeling the playfulness coming from both of his brothers.

"You three are lively today!" Thatch's voice made the three turn, mouths salivating at the sight and smell of the food.

"You as well Thatch," Sabo said as he took the platter from the chef, divvying up the food for the three and handing his brothers the platter to split while he took a much smaller bowl.

"I guess you're right. Today's a good day, I can feel it." Thatch said confidently, taking his seat by Aces bed.

"Oh, what makes you say that?" Sabo asked curiously, beginning to eat one of his muffins. Thatch's smile widened, hands behind his head.

"Well I just found out were nearing Sabaody. Shouldn't be too long now, maybe three days." Thatch said, looking at the ceiling.

"Shabby?" Luffy questioned a bit softly from the bed, watching the chef with a curious gaze.

"Sabaody Luffy, Sa-bao-dy," Sabo said slowly, Luffy repeating the word back successfully to him.

"Oh yeah, I always forget you three don't know these things. Sabaody's basically the halfway point to many pirates. It's at the end of Paradise and after you pass it you've reached the New World." Thatch explained with a smile.

"Looks like you like the island." Ace observed from where he watched, shoving food into his mouth. The chef sighed a bit, shrugging.

"It has its ups and downs, that's for sure. As long as we stay away from groves 1-29 and 60-69 its pretty nice." He said, frowning a bit.

"Groves?" Ace asked, confused now.

"Yeah, the entire island is actually a giant forest of mangrove trees that are separated into different districts, groves 1-29, the lawless zone, 30-39, the amusement park, 40-49, the tourist areas, 50-59, the shipping areas, 60-69, marine headquarters, and 70-79 the hotel town." Thatch explained, ticking off the different sections on his fingers. The brothers shivered though at the sound of the marine headquarters, and it seemed Thatch was thinking the same thing as them at that moment as he frowned as well.

"Come to think of it, we should definitely stay far away from 60-69 this time." He muttered as if more to himself. The brothers couldn't help but find themselves nodding in agreement.

"Anyways, the islands actually pretty nice if you stay within the tourist sections. There's a wide variety of things you can get there because it's so popular. We won't be there long, just long enough for our ship to get coated and then we'll head to Fishman Island." Thatch finished, the brothers finishing their food as well. Even though Sabo had more questions, like what ship coating meant, he held them off for now, just wanting out of the infirmary as fast as possible.

"Well it sounds lovely. Thank you for the breakfast Thatch," Sabo said with a smile, placing his empty bowl on the cleared platter and handing it back to the chef. Thatch smiled brightly, taking the platter from the blonde.

"Oh, it was no problem! Hope you get better soon Ace!" Thatch said, waving goodbye to the brothers as he began to leave the room. Whiskey, noticing they were done with breakfast, made her way over and performed one last exam on Ace to make sure he was healed enough to leave. Once deemed healthy enough she allowed them to leave, the brothers having to hold themselves back from bolting out of the room.

"Thank Kami were finally out of there." Ace huffed out, glaring over his shoulder at the infirmary door. Luffy and Sabo both nodded their agreement as they stood in the hallway, contemplating what to do next.

"We could go sit out on deck?" Sabo offered, but even he didn't really want to do that.

"I think we should take a break from sitting out there, bad things keep happening whenever we do." Ace grumbled, Sabo nodding his agreement once more.

"Then what should we do?" Luffy asked, shifting his weight as he waited. Ace and Sabo looked to the boy, then to each other, and then shrugged.

"Why don't we walk around for a bit? There's still a lot we haven't seen on this ship, I'm sure." Sabo suggested, looking down the hall leading further into the ship rather than out onto the deck.

"I'm fine with that." Ace agreed.

"Yeah, let's explore!" Luffy said enthusiastically, his mood increasing in positivity now that they were free from the smelly infirmary.

"Well then, let's go," Sabo said, turning to begin walking down the hall. Luffy cheered and ran up to his side, Ace sighing as he followed as well.

Now that they weren't trying to hide or sneak around, walking around the inside of the Moby was much more peaceful and relaxing for the three. They didn't have to look over their shoulders every other second in fear that someone would round the corner and spot them. There was still the slight tension that someone would somehow manage to sneak up on them, but other than that, the three felt relatively at peace walking around the many halls.

Maybe they should have just went and found Izo so they could get the rest of that tour, but none of them wanted to go do that right now. This way the three were free to examine anything and everything without suspicion.

Did Luffy just weirdly sniff that door? Yes, he did, because it smelled like food which led the brothers to find out that someone was storing a secret stash of candy in there. Did they take just a bit? Maybe, but no one would know, because they were completely alone in the hall.

Did Sabo just freeze in the hall and tilt his head up a bit, not moving for a few seconds? Yes, he did, because he could hear someone above deck mumbling to themselves about a ghost story they had heard that was messing with their heads, making them think the ship was haunted. Did the three laugh about this? Yes, they did, because they knew there were much scarier things than ghosts in this world.

Did Ace just stand and watch a fly buzz throughout the hall for a minute before it turned the corner and disappeared? Yes, he did, because he swore that same fly had been in the mess hall the day before, he remembered the slightly messed up wing on it, most likely from getting swatted at. Did the brothers sit and wonder for a second how that fly had managed to get into the deepest part of the Moby? Yes, they did, because there was no one around to wonder what they were doing.

The brothers decided that they liked the inside of the Moby, because they could get lost inside it and not worry about anyone but themselves for a moment.


	42. The Return of the Darkness

It had been a peaceful night for once. At least, that's what Ace and Sabo had thought. Upon waking up though they found that it had not been a peaceful night, and it wouldn't be a peaceful morning.

"Luffy, wake up, you're just dreaming," Sabo said as he shook the youngest, hoping he would wake up.

"Come on Lu, open your eyes." Ace prodded, sitting up in bed and turning to face the youngest whose eyes were scrunched tightly.

Neither Ace nor Sabo had noticed that Luffy had been having a nightmare, which was already odd, because normally he would make sounds that would wake Sabo up, but nothing like that had happened this time. The only reason they knew that their brother was having another nightmare was because his breathing was faster than normal and his eyes were scrunched. Not to mention the sweat covering his forehead.

"Lu, its alright, Ace and I are right here." Sabo soothed, hoping it would have some effect. There was no outward reaction to the blondes words though and, if anything, Luffy only got worse. He was stuck in a nightmare.

"How long do you think he's been like this?" Ace asked, feeling bad that he hadn't noticed Luffy was having another nightmare.

"I don't know. I thought it was weird that he hadn't had any nightmares." Sabo said, also feeling bad about it. Ace and Sabo had only just gotten up and had noticed Luffy was in a nightmare only minutes after, but that didn't make them feel any better.

"It's just a bad dream Luffy, just wake up and it'll be gone." Ace said softly, smoothing back the hair matting to the sweaty boy's forehead. After a few more minutes of this, the two oldest were beginning to worry.

"Have any of us been stuck in a nightmare for this long before?" Ace asked with worry in his voice. Sabo spared him a glance and Ace could see the worry on the blondes face as clear as he could hear it in his own voice.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Sabo said, and at this point, Luffy was beginning to make noise, but it wasn't anything good. He sounded terrified, whimpers and sounds of pain escaping that made Ace and Sabo's hearts start to beat a bit faster.

"Luffy, calm down." Sabo tried, holding the raven's shoulder. Luffys breathing was picking up now, and Sabo could hear the pounding of the smallest's heart. It unnerved the brothers and only doubled their attempts at trying to wake him up.

"Luffy! Come on Lu, it's just a nightmare!" Ace hissed for the umpteenth time, beginning to lightly shake the boy again. Luffys breathing only got heavier and his heart beat faster.

"Maybe something's wrong. What if the doctors gave him something that didn't take effect for a while?" Sabo asked, far passed worry and quickly moving into panicked. Ace didn't know how to respond, because honestly, he was thinking along those same lines himself.

"Lu- ah! Luffy!" Ace had been cut off when Luffy suddenly sprung up in bed. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated and his hair stuck to his face from the sweat covering it. He was panting heavily and his heartbeat was still pounding in his chest almost painfully as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was rigid for a few seconds and Ace and Sabo were afraid to touch him in fear that they would set him off, but after a few seconds, he slacked a bit, breathing evening out slightly and heartbeat slowing.

"You alright Luffy?" Sabo asked gently, not wanting to scare the youngest anymore than he already was. Luffy didn't respond, instead looking around for something until Ace placed the straw hat in his lap. Apparently, this had been what Luffy had been looking for because he stopped scanning the room and instead grabbed the hat tightly in his grip for a minute before pulling it down on his head.

"Luffy?" Ace asked quietly, this time Luffy looking over at him.

"You wanna talk about it?" Ace asked, not knowing what to expect from his brother. Silence followed the suggestion, and after a few seconds that felt like hours, Luffy answered.

"It was really bright..." He started, slightly confusing Ace and Sabo.

"Bright?" Sabo asked, and Luffy nodded, continuing.

"Mm... it was really bright, and then it started getting foggy, and the fog was black, and it made it hard to breathe and see," Luffy explained, shivering at the memory of the nightmare.

"And then it was all black and I couldn't breathe anymore and it was really loud and it hurt." Luffy finished, gripping the edges of his hat.

"At least it was just a nightmare," Sabo said, rubbing Luffys back.

"Why don't we go see Whiskey about your bandages and then go take a bath? Luffy, you could probably go sit with Whitebeard while Ace and I go to the nurse." Sabo suggested, thinking that the infirmary was not a place Luffy needed to be at right now, trusting the Captain to keep Luffy safe the few minutes they would be in there.

"Sabo-"

"Mm..." Luffy agreed, cutting off Aces retort. Even though Sabo and Luffy had told him about how they were supposedly trusting Whitebeard and Marco now that didn't mean he liked leaving Luffy anywhere that wasn't with him.

"It'll be fine Ace, don't worry, we'll only be a few minutes and I'll be able to hear him," Sabo said, trying to get Ace to see reason and show him that Luffy wouldn't be able to handle the infirmary right now. Despite looking like he didn't like the plan Ace nodded, deciding to go along with it for now. But he would be grilling Sabo every second to make sure that nothing was happening to Luffy.

They were all still trying to get comfortable on this pirate ship, and the only way they could do that was by going out of their comfort zone while also making sure that they stayed safe as they did. If they had no means of making sure Luffy was ok the entire time then they would have never even considered letting him stay out on deck alone, no matter how much they trusted the pirates in this moment.

Luffy was still a bit jittery and on edge, which was normal considering he had been stuck in a nightmare only minutes before. It was always bad to wake up from one of those, they felt so real and were extremely disorienting. Because of this, the brothers decided to wait a couple minutes before they left the room to make sure Luffy would be ok before being bombarded with noises and people. It was almost time for breakfast, but that would have to wait until after the infirmary visit.

When they deemed themselves ready to leave the room they all shuffled out of bed, Luffy gripping his brothers' hands tightly in his own as he followed them out the door and out onto the deck. It was as lively as always, but the brothers were able to easily maneuver their way around the crowd, careful not to let anyone get too close to them.

'If you want to leave for whatever reason you can, just come find Ace and I, alright?' Sabo tapped out on Luffy's hand, the boy nodding as he glanced at everyone around them.

'And if anyone tries anything scream so Sabo and I can know.' Ace added, tapping his own sentence on Luffy's other hand. Luffy nodded again, feeling the tension coming from his brothers at the thought that they would be leaving him with the Captain out on deck without them.

'We won't be long. Hopefully, we'll be done before you know it.' Sabo tapped as they reached the Captain. Marco was a little bit away, Ace could see him talking to some people, and only Atmos and Rakuyo were near the Captain which made the brothers calm a bit that not all the Commanders were there.

'See you soon Lu.' Ace tapped as he and Sabo reluctantly let go of Luffy's hands, allowing the boy to walk freely over to the Captain while Ace and Sabo continued walking over towards the infirmary. The two oldest began to have a mindless conversation between each other to keep themselves looking calm while they focused all their attention onto Luffy.

Luffy walked quietly up to the Captain who was now noticing his presence. Looking up at the giant he tilted his head, taking in the mans emotions and finding that none of them were bad.

"Ne, , can you tell me a story?" Luffy asked, trying to keep the timidness from his voice as he did. He did like the Captain, especially his warm feelings, but the nightmare was still fresh in his mind, keeping him on edge perpetually whether he wanted to be or not.

"Gurararara! Of course, which one shall I tell today, hm?" Whitebeard asked, more to himself. Luffy could feel the mans curiosity and confusion, but otherwise, he could feel the happiness and warmth coming from the captain, outweighing the other two emotions. A quick check showed that there was still no signs of greying in the Captains aura so Luffy decided everything was good for now and sat down on the ground, preparing himself to listen to a story.

Seeing that their brother was safe for now Ace and Sabo felt a bit of their tension leave as they opened the door to the hall leading to the infirmary. Sabo made sure to keep himself tuned in on Whitebeards story and anything and everything that was happening within a 20-foot radius of Luffy.

The two continued on to the infirmary at a slightly faster pace, ignoring the questioning looks sent their way when the pirates around them realized Luffy wasn't with them. It wasn't too much longer a walk, and within minutes they were at the door, Ace grabbing the handle and opening the door. The infirmary was void of any patients and there were nurses milling around the room doing their own thing. Whiskey, who was looking at some files, looked up at their entrance and smiled to them.

"Ah, Ace, Sabo, glad that you two actually came, I thought you would try and avoid this place." Whiskey said in a friendly tone as she walked up to them. It felt weird not to have Luffy with them to tell them if the nurse was being genuinely happy or if she was trying to deceive them. Either way, though, Sabo put on a smile.

"We tend to keep our promises," Sabo said, and that was the truth. When Ace and Sabo had met Luffy they slowly realized how much promises meant to the small boy and made a habit of not making promises they couldn't keep. Ever since then they've also held those who keep their promises in high regard because most people were quick to abandon their promises when it was most convenient for them.

"Well, that's good. Why don't we get started? I'm sure you two want to be on your way." Whiskey said, gesturing to a chair that Ace could sit in while grabbing her wheely stool.

'Hows Luffy?' Ace asked as they waited for Whiskey to make her way back to them.

'Good, Whitebeards telling him a story and for the most part, people aren't getting too close. Marco's gotten a bit closer to him since we left though.' Sabo said, not knowing if that made him feel better or worse. He did trust Marco about as much as he trusted Whitebeard so in that respect he felt a bit better, but at the same time, what if his trust was misplaced and Marco turned on them?

"Alright, let's get those bandages off. Have you felt any pain? Soreness?" Whiskeys voice brought the two back to what was happening and Ace had to clear his throat, not having expected the questionnaire.

"No, feel fine." Ace said a bit gruffly, though Sabo expected it.

"That's good to hear." Whiskey said as she began removing the bandages that covered Aces torso. Once they were all off they saw that the once harsh and violent wound that spanned Aces chest was now a mere pink line, almost completely gone now.

"It seems to be healing nicely. I don't think you'll need another set of bandages so I'll let you go, but just remember, don't do any heavy lifting, we don't want to reverse any of the progress." Whiskey said, sitting straight after leaning over to examine the wound.

"Thank you Whiskey, I'll make sure he follows those instructions," Sabo said as he stood, suddenly ready to leave. Ace noticed this and felt himself tense up a bit. Was something happening to Luffy? Ace was watching Sabo's face and hands, ready to see if he'd say anything, and just when he was about to ask himself Sabo glanced over to him, worry pooling in his eyes despite the smile he wore. This made Ace stand as well, just as ready to leave as Sabo was.

"Then you two are free to go." Whiskey said with a smile and wave as she began heading further into the infirmary once more. Sabo nodded to her and waved back, turning and practically rushing out the room, Ace following close behind.

"What's going on?" Ace hissed to Sabo, ready to go beat some pirates up if they were hurting Luffy.

"Luffy's heading this way, and by the sounds of it he's terrified," Sabo said, frowning now. Ace did the same, feeling the anger begin to fill him. He didn't know why Luffy was terrified, but whatever caused it, he would stop it.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Ace and Sabo hadn't been gone all that long, maybe only a couple of minutes. Luffy was sitting, actually enjoying a story that Whitebeard was telling him about one of his many adventures. He had noticed that Marco had gotten a bit closer, but he wasn't hurting him so Luffy allowed it. None of the pirates were getting too close to him and he was thankful for that, he was still a bit on edge, though Whitebeards story was calming him down a lot more now.

Time was passing quicker then Luffy thought it would, and soon he was completely immersed in the story, nightmare forgotten. He was beginning to enjoy himself, getting lost in the words the Captain used.

Of course, something had to ruin that.

It was like someone dumped a bucket of cold water on him. One second he was fine, happy, not a care in the world, and then, like a switch, he could feel the terror running through his veins, an icky feeling in the air that he didn't like at all.

He could feel darkness.

His heart rate suddenly sped up from its calm, slow pace to that of a racehorse. He glanced around, trying to figure out where the slimy gross feeling was coming from, noticing that it wasn't actually on the ship, but heading their way.

Forgetting the story completely now Luffy stood, beelining it to the infirmary. He had to get Sabo and Ace, he had to tell them that someone with the darkness was coming. They would know what to do, they were strong and smart, and they would help him. He walked quickly, ignoring the looks he got from his sudden exit and the no doubt look of terror showing on his face. As much as he wanted to run he was already drawing attention and he didn't want to draw anymore so he opted for a very brisk walk.

When he reached the hallway leading to the infirmary he saw the door open, his brothers coming out, worry on their faces, and Luffy could feel the worry, anger and a bit of panic coming from them.

"Luffy, what's wrong? Did someone do something? Are you ok? I knew we shouldn't have left you out there alone!" Aces fast speaking did nothing to calm Luffy, but even so, he was near his brothers now, and that by itself helped him calm down a bit.

"Hold on Ace, don't go frying them yet. What happened Luffy?" Sabo asked, grabbing the back of Aces shirt before the eldest could go charging out on deck and swinging his fists. Trying to slow his heavy breathing Luffy focused on the warmth he could feel in his brothers, a harsh contrast to the icky darkness that was growing ever closer.

"Darkness. Darkness is coming." Luffy said, a bit out of breath. His words made Ace and Sabo freeze, all of Aces anger draining and morphing into worry and fear.

"It's coming? So its not on the boat?" Sabo asked after a second of trying to gather his thoughts. Luffy shook his head.

"No, but it's getting closer," Luffy said quietly, feeling the darkness grow stronger and stronger. It made him shiver.

"We should leave then. I don't know who's got this darkness or what they want but I don't want anything to do with them." Ace said firmly, trying to keep himself from bolting to the first lifeboat he could find.

"Hold on, let's not go doing anything crazy yet," Sabo said, trying to remain level headed despite the fear he felt. He could hear people talking, most wondering what had Luffy so scared, the pirates having noticed the look of terror on the boys face.

"Let's go to our room, we'll talk there," Sabo said, already beginning to walk hastily back in the direction of their room.

"Fine, but if someone tries stopping us I'm not promising that I won't punch them." Ace growled, feeling jittery and on edge with the news that someone with darkness was coming. Luffy grabbed his brothers hands tightly in his and the two oldest squeezed his hands, both for his comfort and theirs. Once again they went out on deck, ignoring the looks they got, something they were good at, and went straight to their room.

Once inside Sabo shut the door, listening for a second to make sure no one followed them or was trying to listen in on them.

"Alright, now, how close are they?" Sabo asked Luffy, noticing the boy was beginning to sweat and was fidgeting restlessly.

"Really close, about to be here in a few minutes," Luffy said, trying more and more to take in the warmth from his brothers, but the darkness was growing stronger and stronger. It wasn't even here yet and it was almost as strong as Haru's had been. That thought did nothing to help Luffy's growing anxiety.

"Then what are we doing waiting around here for it to come?! Let's leave!" Ace nearly shouted, Sabo shushing him before he alerted the whole ship.

"Now hold on Ace! We don't know if they'll actually come here. For all we know its a passing group of pirates and they don't even want to stop here!" Sabo tried to reason, though maybe it was more for himself.

"And what if it's not? What if its doctors and these pirates ratted us out, huh? What if they told the marines and they sent someone here to get us and take us back?!" Ace asked, clenching his fists tightly at his side.

"If that's the case then we will fight. I won't stop you from burning this ship, and the other ship, to the bottom of the sea, but right now we don't know if that's the case. Let's just wait. If they come aboard I'll listen and find out if its marines or doctors, and if it is, we leave, no objections." Sabo said, trying to stop the jitters he felt from the adrenaline.

"There's still the chance that its opposing pirates though and that they just have a really bad person on their crew. They could be passing merchants, bounty hunters, or maybe even travelers, but we can't go running from something that might not even be a threat to us." Sabo continued.

"What if they're apart of this crew then? What if it's one of these pirates?" Ace asked, and Sabo honestly hadn't thought about that, even though he knew it should have been one of his first thoughts, but they had never encountered the darkness outside of the facility and it hadn't come to mind that it could be apart of this crew that they were just starting to grow comfortable around.

"If it is then we'll leave. If that's the case though, we'll need to figure out how we're getting off this ship. We know where the lifeboats are, but where are we gonna go? We don't have any way of navigating these waters." Sabo said, more to himself as he tried thinking quickly, knowing they were on a time limit.

"We have Shanks' paper!" Luffy suddenly said, pulling said paper from the ribbon in his hat. Ace and Sabo looked over at the boy in shock that he had thought of that.

"I completely forgot about that." Ace said in shock, pulling his own piece from his pocket. Sabo nodded, having forgotten about it as well, pulling it from his own pocket.

"Maybe we can ask to use a snail phone then and let Shanks know we're coming, that way we can actually catch up to them if we do go after them," Sabo said, flipping the paper over and seeing the number written on the back of it. After they all agreed to the plan they sat in tense silence, waiting to see who had the darkness and what their intentions were.

"They're here."

* * *


	43. Darkness Revealed

"They're here," Luffy whispered softly from where he sat on the bed, bringing his knees to his chest and holding them. Sabo frowned and nodded, sitting against the door and concentrating on listening to everyone out on the deck, keeping an ear out for anyone coming near the ship. Ace was sitting on the bed with Luffy, sitting on the edge of it, tapping his foot on the ground anxiously as he watched Sabo closely, waiting for any kind of reaction.

"Oi, Teach's group is back!"

"Someone grab the ladder!"

"Hear that Pops, his mission must've gone alright then."

Sabo could hear all the talking, the rope ladder going down, the group of pirates boarding, the celebrating. Everything.

"Luffy, are they on the ship?" Sabo asked quietly, really hoping that this wasn't the person with the darkness. If it was, that meant that someone apart of the Whitebeards had the darkness and if that was the case that meant that they would have to leave. After they were just getting used to this place too.

"Mhmm." Luffy hummed, shaking a bit now as the dark feeling crept over him.

"Who is it, Sabo?" Ace asked, frown on his face as his foot tapped faster.

"It's someone apart of the Whitebeards. A group of them just got back from some mission." Sabo said, standing away from the door now as he told his brothers.

"That's it then. We're leaving, we can't stay here." Ace said in a slight growl, fists clenched at his sides. Sabo nodded, taking a deep breath.

"You're right. Alright, we have to get to the snail phones." Sabo said, trying to think quickly in case this person somehow knew about them and was here to hurt them. He listened to what was happening outside for a second and frowned.

"What if we go ask Marco to use the phones, that way no one gets suspicious and we can get out of here," Sabo suggested, trying to figure out the safest route out of here. Ace frowned, not liking the idea of talking to anyone on this ship now, but knew that Sabo was normally good at planning these things out. Nodding along to the plan he stood up, Luffy also getting up, though a bit shakier.

"Ok, then we'll go out, I'll ask Marco, and if for some reason he doesn't let us then we'll sneak down there anyway and call Shanks," Sabo said, going over the plan quickly. Luffy quickly sidled up in between Ace and Sabo, grabbing their hands as they left the room, trying to take calming breaths. The closer they got to the deck though, the more suffocating the darkness got, reminding him of his nightmare earlier that morning.

When they reached the deck they all scanned it quickly, Ace spotting the first Commander quickly and leading them to him while Sabo listened around for anyone talking about them, while also keeping an ear out on those who had just come to the ship, knowing one of them had the darkness.

'Luffy, which one has the darkness?' Sabo asked as he looked over the crew. Luffy also began scanning for a second before potentially spotting whoever it was harboring the dark feeling, shrinking back a bit.

'That guy, the one with the long black curly hair, missing teeth, black bandanna.' Luffy tapped as he swallowed thickly, another shiver running through him as he put a face with the feeling. Ace and Sabo zeroed in on the man quickly, both frowning and tightening their hold on Luffy's hands. From what they could see, he looked like a pretty normal, friendly guy, but knowing that he had the darkness in him made it all that much worse.

Moving their attention away from the man they turned to where they were closing in on Marco, Sabo preparing himself to act as if nothing was wrong at the moment.

"Marco!" Sabo called as they grew closer, placing a smile on his face, though it was a bit tense despite his best efforts.

"Yes, yoi?" Marco asked as he turned to face them, not having noticed that they were even back out on deck.

"Sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if we could use one of your snail phones. Luffy wanted to talk to Shanks. If that's ok with you that is." Sabo said, doing his best to not raise any flags with the Commander.

"Sure, I'll take you there, yoi," Marco said, making Sabo nearly sigh in relief as they followed the first mate into the ship, towards where they knew the snail phones were. Even so, the three of them were still on guard, having no idea what could happen next seeing as there was someone with the darkness on board. The group walked silently through the halls until they finally reached the room, Marco stopping and pushing the door open.

"Do you want me to stay here until you're done?" Marco asked, Sabo shaking his head because that was exactly what they didn't want him to do.

"No thank you, that's fine. Thank you, Commander." Sabo said with another smile as he watched the man nod and turn to leave. The brothers didn't dare move until they saw him turn the corner and disappear, leaving the three alone.

"Finally, let's get off this damn ship!" Ace hissed as he nearly bolted into the room, Luffy following. Sabo sighed, also following, pulling the door shut behind him. He was barely two steps into the room and Ace had already pulled one of the snail phones close and was putting in Shanks' number, a look of concentration on his face. Ace was sitting in the chair at the end of the table, Luffy in his lap as he watched his brother put in the number. Sabo joined the two, sitting in the chair beside them.

" _Purupurupurupuru~_ " The three waited in tense silence for the red-haired captain to pick up.

" _Purupurupurupuru~_ " More silence as they waited, not knowing what to do if he didn't pick up.

" _Purupurupurupur- gatcha_." A collective sigh of relief resounded from the brothers at the sound of the snail being picked up.

"Akagami here, whos this?" Luffy's face lit up while Sabo took the snail from Ace before he could begin ranting.

"Shanks, it's us," Sabo said, watching the snails face light up in recognition.

"Ah, Anchor and his brothers! Everything going alright?" Shanks asked, an inquisitive look now appearing on the snail's face.

"Actually... no," Sabo said a bit hesitantly, glancing to the door as he made sure no one was listening in on them.

"Oh? How so? Whats happened?" Shanks asked, the snail frowning. Sabo frowned as well, turning his attention back to the snail.

"Well, you remember how we told you Luffy could sense people feelings?" Sabo started, hesitant to even be saying this much out loud.

"Yes," Shanks said, waiting for him to elaborate.

"And do you remember how we told you about the darkness?" Sabo said, voice going lower at the mention of the feeling. Shanks frown deepened as well, sensing the seriousness.

"Yes, I do. The doctors had it, correct?" Shanks asked as he remembered what the brothers had told them. Sabo nodded.

"Yes, and you remember how we told you that people with that feeling were bad? Very bad?" Sabo asked, and again Shanks' snail nodded in response.

"Yes. I assume you're telling me all of this again for a reason." Shanks said, already having a feeling as to where this conversation was going, but still unsure.

"I am. The thing is, someone here has the darkness." Sabo said, wondering how Shanks would react. Luffy shifted, the feeling of the darkness still creeping over to him, even when the man was still out on the deck.

"That's actually pretty surprising. Do you know who it is?" Shanks asked, sounding legitimately surprised by the information. Sabo thought back to what people had been saying, specifically to the person Luffy had pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure someone called him Teach," Sabo said after a second. Shanks look of surprise quickly morphed into one of understanding, turning to a frown quickly after.

"Ah, now it all makes sense, I always knew that man was no good," Shanks said with a hint of anger in his tone.

"We were wondering if we could come to you. After what happened in the facility we'd really rather not be near anyone with the darkness at the moment." Sabo said, hoping the Captain would agree to at least wait for them.

"Have you told Whitebeard about the darkness?" Shanks asked, confusing the brothers.

"No, we haven't even told them anything about what happened in the facility, much less the fact that Luffy can sense feelings," Sabo explained.

"I think you should tell them. Not about the facility and all of that, but at least warn them about Teach. I highly doubt that they even have a clue that he could be up to no good. Whitebeard and his crew are good people, Teach is just an unfortunate outlier that could end up causing them harm in the future if they don't have any clue about him." Shanks explained, and though Sabo knew why Shanks wanted them to do this, it was still a lot to ask.

"No way in hell. We're leaving the second we're done with this conversation, we're not staying another second near that bastard." Ace growled out, gripping the arms on his chair tightly. Sabo sighed, but couldn't find it in himself to disagree with Ace.

"I understand, and you don't need to tell them about the whole, Luffy can sense feelings thing, just... tell them to look out for him. Tell them that he's someone they should keep an eye out for. I still think the Whitebeards are good people and that you should stay with them, but if you disagree and decide you still want to leave after you tell them, then I'll wait for you to come to my ship, I'll even turn around and start heading back toward you." Shanks said, leaving the brothers to sit in silence for a second.

"So you're saying that all we have to do is warn them about Teach and then we can leave?" Sabo asked, the snail nodding in affirmation.

"Yes, but again, I still think you should stay. Trust me, they're good people, well, besides Teach that is, stay away from him, but other than that, they'll keep you safe. Probably better then I can." Shanks said. Another moment of silence passed over them as they took in Shanks' words until, eventually, Sabo spoke up again.

"Alright, we'll warn them, but we make no promises on staying here afterward." The blonde said a bit reluctantly.

"That's all I ask. I'll call back in a few minutes so you can tell me what you're going to do." Shanks replied with a bit of a sigh. Sabo nodded.

"Thank you Shanks." He said, getting ready to hang up.

"No problem Sabo. _Gatcha_." The sound of the snail going to sleep sounded, Sabo placing the receiver back in its place and leaning back in his chair.

"Well, I guess we should go tell Marco about Teach then," Sabo said with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

"Or we could just not and pretend we did," Ace muttered, earning a glare from both Sabo and Luffy.

"Just a suggestion! I don't want any of us getting near that guy again." Ace said, raising his hands up defensively.

"But we told Shanks we would tell Marco, so we gotta tell Marco," Luffy said determinedly, even though he himself definitely didn't want to go back out on deck where Teach was either.

"Luffy's right, if Shanks is right, I would rather warn them about Teach so they can avoid any issue with him in the future," Sabo said, moving to stand. Ace pouted a bit but nodded, Luffy getting off his lap as the two stood as well, following Sabo to the door.

'Teach is still out on the deck with Marco, but they're not that close. If we're lucky we won't have to even look at Teach.' Sabo said as he took note of where people were on deck, noticing someone talking to Teach where he knew the railings were while also hearing Marco giving out Commands from the upper deck.

'Let's make this quick then.' Ace tapped as they began to walk briskly through the halls, Sabo having closed the door behind them. Once they were reaching the door that would open up to the deck they slowed, Sabo listening quickly before pushing it open, leading his brothers away from Teach and to where he heard Marco. Ace was keeping a close eye on Teach, eyes narrowed on the man as they walked, and Luffy sidled up closer to Sabo who was in the front, the brothers walking in a straight line with Ace at the back.

"Marco!" Sabo called cheerfully as if it was a coincidence that the brothers were once again stumbling upon the man. The first mate turned to look at the approaching brothers, raising an eyebrow.

'Confused, curious.' Luffy tapped, so his brothers could know what they were walking into when it came to how people were perceiving them. He knew that, with the appearance of the darkness, everything and everyone was now much more suspicious then they had been the day before.

"Welcome back, how was your talk with Akagami, yoi?" Marco asked, giving the brothers his attention. The smile remained on Sabo's face while Ace continued to keep watch on Teach from the corner of his eye. Luffy was carefully taking note of the emotions he could feel coming from the first mate, reporting them all to Sabo.

"It went well, thank you. It's a bit busy up here today." Sabo said, trying to subtly get Marco to bring up Teach first so it wouldn't be all that weird for him to just suddenly mention them. Marco nodded, taking a glance at the pirates that were still unloading things from the ship Teach had come from.

"That's right, a group that was sent out to handle a mission came back recently, yoi," Marco explained, and Luffy could still sense the slight confusion coming from the man, though other than that he felt calm and generally at peace.

"Were they successful?" Sabo asked as if he was oblivious, though he had already heard all the conversations about how successful they had been. Marco nodded though, completely unaware that Sabo held this knowledge.

"They were, yoi. Teach has been bragging about sense he got back." Marco said with a bit of an eye-roll, though he wore a smirk at the mention. Sabo, silently pleased that Marco had mentioned Teach, pretended to look confused.

"Teach?" He asked, using his best, ' _Who's that?_ ' look.

"You haven't met him, he was on the mission when you got here, yoi. That's him right over there." Marco said, pointing the man out for them, though they all knew exactly who and where he was.

"So he's apart of the crew?" Sabo asked a bit distantly as he observed the man a bit closer now that he had the opportunity. The ease that the man smiled and laughed with others, how friendly his outward appearance seemed, it was all still very unnerving to the brothers.

"He is, yoi," Marco said, also watching the man now. Sabo, knowing this was the time he needed to bring up the warning, swallowed thickly, preparing himself to get the words out. He had no idea how the pirate would react and his nerves were beginning to jump.

"Ne, Marco." Sabo started carefully. Catching the sudden tone of seriousness coming from Sabo Marco turned his attention back to the blonde brother, curiosity piquing now.

"You should keep an eye on him," Sabo said in a low, serious tone, quiet enough that only the first Commander could hear him, as well as his brothers. Marco raised an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean, yoi?" The commander asked. Sabo couldn't sense any hostility in the man's voice, and the confirmation from Luffy gave him the confidence to continue.

"Something bad will happen." Sabo continued, his mouth a bit dry as he spoke.

"To Teach?" The first mate asked, not understanding what Sabo was trying to tell him. The blonde shook his head, face turning grim.

"No, not _to_ him. _Because_ of him, something bad will happen." Sabo elaborated. There was a beat of silence as Marco took in those words, glancing back at Teach for a second.

"And how is it that you know this, yoi?" Marco asked, and again Sabo waited for confirmation that there was no hostility coming from Marco before continuing.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy! Akagami called back, said he forgot to tell Luffy something!" Haruta's voice called from the lower deck. Sabo turned to the pirate, smiling and nodding as he said they would be down in a minute. Turning back to Marco his face turned serious again.

"Trust us on this Commander," Sabo said, staying for a second more before he and his brothers left to go answer Shanks' call and give him their verdict.

"Sabo, yoi." Marcos call made the brothers falter, Sabo turning to see what Marco wanted, hoping it wasn't to yell at him.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye out, yoi," Marco said, his face just as serious as Sabo's had been moments earlier. Not knowing how to respond and wanting to leave Sabo merely nodded in response, the three of them turning once more and making their way back to the den den mushi room. He could feel Marco watching them as they walked away but he ignored it, dead set on the next few minutes. Depending on what they said and did, they could be off this ship and on the way to Shanks' with either little to no problem or with a big fight.

'We're leaving now, right?' Ace asked with an antsy look on his face, glancing this way and that as they shuffled their way through the pirates.

'Hopefully, yes.' Sabo replied, listening for anyone following them, his heart rate picking up at the thought of getting caught. Luffy was snug in between the two oldest, eyes low as he tried blocking out the darkness wanting to creep in, but it wasn't easy.

A quick, brisk walk allowed them to reach the room with ease, Sabo closing the door and moving to pick up the receiver, the snail patiently waiting.

"Shanks?" Sabo asked, holding the piece up to his mouth, listening anxiously to everything happening out on deck, nervous that someone would head their way and over hear their conversation.

"Sabo, did you tell them?" Shanks asked, his voice loud and clear in the silence of the room. Sabo nodded, glancing to the door briefly.

"We did." He said shortly, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"And?" Shanks prodded, wanting to know how things went.

"We told Marco to watch out for Teach and he said he would. Did he mean it Lu?" Sabo asked, knowing Luffy had been getting a read of Marcos feelings throughout the entire conversation. Luffy nodded, swinging his feet from where he sat on the table next to the snail.

"Mm. He meant it. He was worried and a little uneasy but he meant it when he said he would keep an eye on him." Luffy relayed, remembering the feelings easily and the conviction the commander felt as he spoke to the brothers.

"Good. So, what's your verdict?" Shanks asked, Sabo sighing a bit.

"We have to leave. We can't stay near someone with darkness, no matter how nice everyone else is." Sabo said a bit reluctantly. He had been getting comfortable here, Ace and Luffy too, and for them to suddenly have to leave was a bit disheartening, but there was no way that they would be comfortable staying on this ship in such close proximity to someone with that much darkness in them.

"I understand, but you need to know that it would be much harder for me to keep you safe. I don't have as much power as Whitebeard does and the marines may be a bit more hesitant toward me then other pirates but that won't stop them from trying if they find out you're with me. Whitebeard would be able to keep you much safer." Shanks said, trying to make sure they understood exactly what it was they were giving up.

"You may get away from the darkness, but you would be giving up safety that no one else could provide." Shanks continued, the brothers listening in silence.

"No matter how safe someone is the darkness trumps that." Ace said in a low voice, a scowl on his face.

"Whitebeard may be the safest place for now, but what happens if Teach goes around and starts turning peoples blue into black, just like at the facility? This place would become much more dangerous than the facility had been." Sabo added, knowing it was a strong possibility that Teach could start planting dark thoughts into these pirates' heads, turning their blue into grey, and then black.

"If that were the case, I'd agree with you, but as it is now, Teach has been with the Whitebeards for at least a decade. If his goal was to turn everyone on the ship into those with the darkness wouldn't there be more people there with it by now?" Shanks countered. Sabo had to agree, it was a bit weird that the man had, supposedly, been there that long and not a single other pirate that they had seen had the darkness. If he had been there this long, it should be crawling with people with the darkness.

"That's not the point, the point is, we can't stay here with him because any second he could find out about our numbers and go tell the Marines about us. People with the darkness couldn't give two craps about what happens to others, only what would benefit themselves." Ace hissed out, annoyed that this was even a conversation they were having. They should have been off this boat by now, watching it get smaller as they sailed away from it.

"I know, you're right Ace, I just worry I won't be able to keep you as safe as Whitebeard could, that's all. It's not gonna be easy to keep the marines off both my, and your, backs." Shanks said again, knowing how stressed the brothers must be. Sabo took a deep breath, closing his eyes and rubbing his hand over his face.

"I'm sorry were asking so much of you, Shanks. It will be more difficult for you if you have to worry about us on your ship, especially with all the marines out searching for us, but even if we wanted to stay, someone with the darkness is much more of a danger to us then the marines. I don't think there's much that you, or anyone, could do to get us to want to stay." Sabo explained, knowing they were putting Shanks into a difficult position.

"You're right Sabo, it is a bit of a tight spot you three are putting me in, and even so, I'm more than happy to help any way I can, but again, I'm just letting you know what you're giving up, what you're going to lose when you come here. Safety isn't something that you can get easily, not when the entire government is working their butts off to find you, and when you step off the Whitebeards ship you're going to lose the safety that you three desperately need." Shanks once again reiterated, trying to drill into the boys just what they were giving up. There was silence now as they thought this over.

Safety was something that they needed, Shanks was right about that, but was it still that much safer here on the Whitebeards ship when there was someone with the darkness onboard? Sure, if they had been here this long and hadn't hurt anyone surely that was a good sign, but that didn't, by any means, mean that they were a good person. In fact, it was the complete opposite, it just meant that whatever they were planning to do was taking a long time to put into motion.

So would they be giving up all that much to go join Shanks on his ship? Did the safety that came with being on the Whitebeard pirates' ship outweigh the danger of being near someone with the darkness?

"I don't want Marco and Mr. Captain to get hurt," Luffy spoke softly, reluctantly. His head was down and his feet, which had been swinging, weren't moving. He was gripping his pants in his fists and Ace and Sabo could see the frown on his face.

"What do you mean Lu?" Sabo asked, confused.

"If we leave then Teach is gonna hurt 'em. I don't want 'em to get hurt, they're good people, but I don't wanna stay around the darkness either." Luffy explained, feeling conflicted. Ace and Sabo watched the boy, neither one of them knowing what to say in response. They didn't want Marco or Whitebeard to get hurt either, after all, they had been the ones to save them from the facility and keep them safe from marines ever since, but, like Luffy, they didn't want to stay anywhere near the darkness.

"There's nothing we can do though, not unless we stay." Ace said, and by the sound of his voice, he most definitely did not want to stay.

"Even if we do stay, what can we do? We'd just be tiptoeing around Teach trying to avoid him." Sabo added, even though he did want to help the Whitebeards. Luffys frown deepened.

"I know, but we could make sure he doesn't hurt 'em," Luffy mumbled softly, his feet swinging slightly now as he spoke.

"It seems we're all very divided on what you should do." Shanks piped in with a sigh. He was right though, because as much as the brothers wanted to leave, there was a part of them that longed to stay, not only to keep the pirates safe, but because this was the first place they had felt normal since the facility, the first place that they were able to get comfortable at.

"It is weird though. If Teach has been here for as long as you say, what's his goal? Everyone with the darkness is motivated by something, most of the time its nothing good, so whats Teach's plan?" Sabo pondered more to himself than to anyone else.

"I don't have any idea, but I do think that he's been hiding his true nature from Whitebeard, so to hear that it was him with the darkness wasn't that surprising," Shanks said, the snail now putting on a face as if it were in thought.

"Then that would mean he doesn't want the pirates to know about it. He's putting up an act to keep them from finding out about him, and most likely about his plan too." Sabo deduced, though that didn't answer much at all.

"That's great and all, but why are we talking about that bastard again?" Ace asked, arms crossed over his chest impatiently.

"I'm just a bit confused is all Ace. After all, this is the first person outside of the facility that we've felt the darkness from." Sabo said with a bit of a shrug.

"Yeah, and that's exactly why we've gotta get as much distance between us and him as fast as possible." Ace said with a bit of anger in his voice now.

"What if you leave and end up regretting it?" Shanks' words made the brothers freeze, none of them having expected that question.

"What?" Ace asked, not sure if he heard right.

"What if you leave and realize later that being on the Whitebeards ship really was the best place for you and end up regretting it?" Shanks elaborated, the brothers pondering his words for a minute.

"I really do think that you three should stay there for now. With Teach being there now the Whitebeards don't know what he's capable of. Marco may be keeping an eye on him now, but he doesn't know what he's looking for, but you three do. If you keep an eye on him you can find out what he's up to, and at the same time keep him from hurting anyone." Shanks suggested, leaving the three in shock.

"You want us to _spy_ on him?!" Ace hissed, already not liking the plan.

"You don't have to, but whenever he's around, keep an eye on him, make sure he's not trying to hurt anyone or plant any bad ideas in their heads. Otherwise, you could avoid him and continue to sail under Whitebeards name safely." The red-haired Captain explained, knowing that this would be a hard request to ask them. He truly wanted to help the brothers, and he truly believed that they would be better off on the Whitebeards ship rather than his.

"No. No way." Ace said firmly, Sabo hesitating. The blonde knew why Shanks was asking them to do this, he understood that it would be more beneficial for them to stay on this ship, but the thought of being near the darkness deterred him from wanting to stay.

"Ace-"

"No, Sabo, you're not going to try and talk me out of this like always. There's someone with darkness here, and that means we're leaving. These pirates are strong and if Teach ends up trying anything I'm sure they'll be able to handle it." Ace growled out, his anger only rising with every second they stayed arguing about this.

"But what if they can't? You know as well as I do how dangerous someone with darkness can be. They're deceptive, and these pirates won't know until its too late that they should be worried about Teach." Sabo tried reasoning.

"What do you want to do about it? It's not like we can just go and beat him up! For some reason, I don't think that'll go over so well with the others." Ace said sarcastically. Luffys eyes began flicking in between his brothers, watching the two as they continued to argue back and forth. Shanks had gone silent as well, letting the two work things out on their own before he would butt in with his own comments.

"Of course not, but Shanks is right, we could just watch him from afar. We don't get close, we don't let him near us, but we make sure he isn't trying to hurt anyone here. I don't want to be here with him either, but I don't want anyone getting hurt because we knew about him and did nothing to stop him." Sabo said, already feeling guilty for something that could happen in the future should they leave Teach to his own devices.

Sabo was being swayed again. This kept seeming to happen. Whenever they had the perfect opportunity, the perfect reason to leave, he was swayed right back into staying with the Whitebeard pirates. Sabo didn't know how he felt about that, but he knew it was getting on Ace's nerves. The eldest had every right to be annoyed with him though, he had said that he wouldn't put up a fight if the darkness was apart of the Whitebeards. He had said they could leave without any fuss, but here he was, fussing. Despite this, Sabo couldn't find it in him to just leave quietly, and a look at Luffy showed the youngest felt the same as him on the subject. Luffy was clearly conflicted on what he wanted to do in this situation, wanting to help the pirates but not wanting to be near Teach either.

But Shanks had made some good points. Points that he had to take into account now that they were so close to jumping ship. If they did go to Shanks they would have to be more diligent about staying hidden, they would have to be more careful of their surroundings, they would have to be more guarded, and that wasn't something that Sabo really wanted to do. A selfish part of him wanted to stay here, purely because he would be able to relax just slightly more then he would if they went to Shanks.

"In that case, Sabo, we still have to be on the same ship as him. If we go to Shanks we don't have to worry about that at all!" Ace hissed, trying to keep his voice down in case anyone was close enough to hear him should he start yelling. Sabo frowned.

"Yes, but in return for not having to worry about Teach we have to worry about the whole of the government looking for us!" Sabo hissed back, hoping his brother would see reason in what he was trying to say. At this point, Sabo didn't know if he even wanted to stay, but from the way he was arguing with Ace, it sure seemed like he did.

"We have to worry about that anyway!" Ace argued back.

"Yes, but here we don't have to watch over our shoulder every five seconds like we would if we went to Shanks!" Sabo countered, Luffy's head moving back and forth like he was watching a tennis match.

Both Luffy and Sabo knew that Ace was only trying to keep them safe, but sometimes he could become narrow-minded and ignore the facts telling them that staying here would be much safer for them then going to Shanks.

"Look, we're just repeating ourselves now. I know you don't want to stay, and really, I don't think I want to stay all that much either, but you have to see that the safer option would be to stay here with the Whitebeards. Leaving would mean giving up all the safety that comes with the marines being scared of him, and not to mention all the territory he has would keep people from thinking twice about us. It would be easier for us to hide if we stayed with him, but if we went to Shanks we would have to give up some of our freedoms, like being able to wander freely at islands." Sabo explained softly, making sure that Ace knew just what was at stake.

The room went silent again, everyone thinking over their options. Finally, it was Shanks who spoke up.

"Why don't we do a trial run?" Shanks asked, confusing the brothers.

"A trial run?" Ace asked, wondering where this was going.

"Yeah. Stay on the ship for another day or two, watch Teach, and if by the end of it it's too unbearable to be near him then you can come to my ship instead. This way you'll also have time to think over if you really want to leave or not and I'll feel better knowing you've thought through all of your options and at least gave staying with the Whitebeards a try." Shanks explained, the brothers finding no complaints. Sabo and Luffy both nodded, agreeing to the plan, and turned to Ace, wondering how he felt about the idea. Ace was quiet, looking to be in deep thought.

"Alright, we'll stay for another day, just so I can show you that staying is a bad idea." He finally said a bit reluctantly. Luffy smiled, glad that they might be able to keep Marco and Whitebeard safe after all, while Sabo smiled as well, happy that Ace didn't put up too much of a fight at this new plan.

"Well, in that case, thank you Shanks, we'll call back tomorrow," Sabo said, the snail smiling.

"No problem boys. Talk to you tomorrow then." Shanks said, the snail hanging up after and leaving the room in silence once again.


	44. A Day with Teach

When the next day finally rolled around the brothers found themselves waiting anxiously in their room for breakfast to be ready. They didn't want to leave the safety of the small room just yet, not wanting to go face the man filled with so much darkness that it rivaled Harus.

Luffy could feel the darkness from there, which just went to show how much of it Teach had seeing as they were inside the Moby, whereas Teach was somewhere out on the deck. It felt as if the man was standing right next to him.

They had told Shanks that they would give today a try, that they would do their best to be on the same ship with Teach, but none of them said that they would be actively going anywhere near the man. It felt just like it had their first week in their room, all of them barely even venturing out for food.

Sabo could hear pirates beginning to file into the galley for breakfast and he realized that, if they wanted to eat, they would have to head out now. They just had to get through this last day, then they could leave.

There was still the part of him that wanted to stay, though.

"Come on, breakfast is done," Sabo said a bit curtly, not wanting to be near Teach but knowing that it was inevitable. Despite his words, the three didn't move, all of them trying to encourage themselves to do it, but none of them actually doing it. After a minute of this Ace finally sighed and stood up, scowling as he did so, and made his way to the door, practically flinging it open as he stalked down the hall toward the galley. Sabo and Luffy shared a glance but followed the eldest silently.

The closer to the galley they got the harder it was for Luffy to breathe. It was like a cloud of darkness was engulfing the galley, and stepping into it would be like submerging yourself in water. In the darkness, though, there was a lightness. Warmth. Whitebeard was in the galley too, and Luffy noticed that the strong wave of warmth that the giant omitted counterbalanced the darkness that Teach omitted. Pleased by this finding, Luffy allowed the warmth to engulf him, to drive away any feeling of darkness, and was pleasantly surprised when, after letting the warmth in, there wasn't a single hint of darkness despite the fact the Teach was only sitting a few tables away.

Ace and Sabo noticed their brother, who, moments ago, was tense, breathing heavy, and practically shaking, suddenly relaxed, a hint of a smile forming. This confused them, especially sense Teach was within eyesight.

'Luffy?' Ace tapped in question as the brothers went to the table to sit.

'I'm letting the warmth in to stop the darkness.' Luffy answered, knowing what his brother was going to ask. Ace and Sabo frowned, but only because they were concerned.

'Not too much Lu, don't overdo it.' Sabo warned, Luffy nodding in understanding, feeling the worry coming from his brothers. He would be careful, he would only let in enough warmth to stop the darkness, no matter how good it felt and how much he wanted to let it all in.

The brothers sat down at the table with the Commanders, trying their best to both ignore, yet keep an eye on, Teach. Luffy made sure to focus on the man's emotions, all of them except the darkness, to look for any sudden change or any malicious feelings that could harm him, his brothers, or the pirates. Ace was scanning the room, but more often then not he was looking toward the smiling pirate, anger rising inside him at how naturally Teach could put on a friendly act despite the dark intentions he knew the man had to have. Meanwhile, Sabo was keeping a close ear on Teach while also listening and interacting with the Commanders and Captain.

Thatch came out soon enough, the brothers' food along with the Captains in his hands as he announced breakfast was being served. Pirates began standing, shuffling over to where the food was being served, while Thatch began setting the plates he had down, Sabo thanking him as he did.

The brothers ate quickly and silently, and by the time the Commanders were just beginning eating, the brothers were finishing. Ace looked ready to start leaving, Luffy too, but Sabo had an idea.

"Ne, Thatch, do you think you could get some seconds for Ace and Luffy?" Sabo asked in as polite a tone he could manage with Teach in the room, putting a pleasant smile on his face as he did. Ace halted from where he was mid rise, sitting back down instantly and giving Sabo and confused look. Luffy, who was also confused, merely glanced at the blonde, more focused on the fact that he would be able to eat more.

'Sabo, what are you doing?' Ace asked, tense. Hadn't one of their rules been to not ask for much, including more food seeing as they already ate so much. Sabo ignored his brother, smile not leaving his face.

Thatch seemed a bit shocked, but got over it quickly, a smile lighting up his own face as he nodded, standing.

"Sure thing Sabo, I'll be right back with it!" He said cheerfully, a hint of excitement in his voice as he rushed back towards the kitchen. The Commanders had turned their attention to the brothers now, eyebrows raised, but Sabo ignored them, splitting his attention once more between Teach and the commanders and Captain.

"You two are still hungry? I think I'd be full for a year if I ate that much!" Vista said, and Luffy sensed no maliciousness in the comment, only good-heartedness. Telling Sabo as much the blonde lifted his head to respond.

"My brothers are quite well known for having black holes where their stomachs should be," Sabo said with a bit of a laugh, trying to keep an air of indifference and calm around himself. Before more could be said Thatch returned, plates in hand, placing them in front of Ace and Luffy.

"There you go!" Thatch said happily as he placed plates in front of Ace and Luffy before returning to his seat. The two brothers hesitated a second, not quite knowing what was happening still, but after a quick look to each other they shrugged and dug in. They weren't going to deny good food, especially when they were still hungry. The Commanders only watched them for another second before their attention was drawn elsewhere and they carried on with their own meals. Sabo waited for his brothers to be done while keeping a close ear on Teach, listening to him laugh and joke with other members of the crew.

When they were finished they left the galley as fast as they usually did, but this time they stopped outside the galley doors.

'Should we go back to our room?' Luffy asked, not really knowing what to do. He didn't really want to go back into the room where there was nothing to do, but he didn't want to stay out here where Teach would be.

'We did say we would try and keep an eye on Teach, so maybe we should stay out here. If it gets to be too much we can go back to our room.' Sabo said, the brothers nodding and heading to the rail where they resumed their usual positions.

'So what was that all about?' Ace asked, not needing to give any more context. Sabo shrugged as he looked at the water with Luffy.

'Well, let's just call it a bit of a test.' Sabo said, confusing his brothers even more.

'A test?' Luffy asked. Sabo nodded, tapping some more.

'The pirates always said that if we were still hungry, or if we needed anything, then all we had to do was ask. Whether its because they want to be nice or they're acting, I don't know, so I decided to ask for more food. If they're acting then now is a good time to find out seeing as we're about to leave. At lunch, you can have thirds and dinner, fourths. If they turn, then we'll know that we definitely shouldn't stay here anymore then today. If they don't, then... maybe we should stay.' Sabo explained, ending a bit hesitantly at the suggestion of staying with the pirates despite Teach being there.

'You think we should stay?!' Ace tapped, trying to keep the shock from showing. Sabo anticipated this, sighing as he replied.

'It's not like I really want to, but Shanks was right, the Whitebeards offer protection we wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. It's also protection that we desperately need right now.' Sabo tapped, looking up at the clouds as his mind fought with the conflicting thoughts of wanting to leave but knowing they should stay.

'Is it really protection if there's someone with darkness here?' Ace questioned, still thinking that they should leave. How safe could safe be when there was darkness along with it?

'When that person with darkness seems to be keeping it hidden, probably. At this time we have no clue what Teach's goal is, or why he's pretending to be so friendly, so, for now, yes, this is the safest option. I want to go to Shanks too, but if we do there will be more marines and more danger of getting caught.' Sabo reasoned, knowing Teach was only a threat if he revealed to everyone here what his true intentions were. Sure, it was a ticking time bomb, but at least they wouldn't be near him when it went off seeing as they planned on avoiding him as much as humanly possible.

Luffy sat silently, letting his brothers discuss their options while he paid attention to everyone else on the ship, noticing that breakfast was finishing up and people were beginning to flood the deck, Teach being one of them. The man was on the other side of the deck, Luffy wouldn't be there still if the man was any closer, and he was making sure to memorize Teach's scent so he would be able to pick it up if necessary.

'So? We can take down a few lousy marines.' Ace tapped, crossing his arms tightly over his chest despite the fact that he was supposed to be sleeping.

'It won't be a few lousy marines, Ace, its gonna be a hoard of trained, possibly deadly, marines. We can probably handle a few, but not how many the government will no doubt send after us.' Sabo replied with a frown.

Man, Teach stunk. Bad. Luffy had never smelled a scent that was just inherently... bad. He smelled a bit like cherry, which wasn't that bad, but also like... oil? Cherry and oil. Those two scents did not mix well in Luffy's opinion.

'Then we get stronger.' Ace said defiantly, still not willing to stay on this ship.

'We can only get so strong Ace.' Sabo replied a bit reluctantly, knowing that it was true. Sure, they could train, get stronger, but eventually, they wouldn't be able to get any stronger. They were only human.

The conversation was cut short though because Luffy was suddenly spinning on the rail, jumping down and, very determinedly, heading towards Whitebeard. Sabo, without missing a beat, spun on the rail as well and followed after the youngest. Brushing Aces shoulder with his hand, the eldest's eyes flew open as he stood and followed as well.

There was no denying the fact that Teach had just been heading their way. What he wanted, none of the brothers knew, and they had no intention of waiting to find out. Out of the corner of his eye, Ace could see the man watching them head towards the Captain, his expression unreadable, and Ace suppressed the scowl that wanted to show.

They all noticed the looks they got, having surprised a few people with their sudden movement towards the Captain, but no one made any moves to stop or intercept them which was good. They reached the giant soon enough, the three of them sitting in front of him without a word, leaving the first move up to the Captain. Whether they sat in silence, or they talked, would be up to Whitebeard himself.

The man raised an eyebrow at the brothers' sudden appearance in front of him but said nothing on the subject, looking back over the rest of the crew like he had been before the brothers had joined him. Luffy watched the man carefully for a few minutes, and Ace and Sabo were just about to continue their previous conversation when Luffy stood again from where he sat inbetween his brothers.

Now everyone was confused as Luffy slowly, carefully, made his way closer to Whitebeard. He looked almost hesitant, reminding everyone watching of a rabbit, timid and afraid, yet moving slowly toward something it feared.

Ace and Sabo, knowing Luffy was up to something, restrained themselves from causing a scene and grabbing Luffy. It didn't sit well with them that their brother was getting so close to someone so unknown to them, but this was someone that they all trusted for many different reasons, and they knew Luffy wouldn't be getting this close without a good reason himself. So they watched, tense and ready to fight if necessary, along with everyone else that was watching the interaction... which was everyone.

When Luffy reached the Captains feet he merely stared at the man's legs in front of him, seemingly thinking something over before slowly reaching his hand out and grabbing the mans pants, tugging on them a bit.

Whitebeard seemed to understand what the boy wanted because he leaned down, putting a hand out in which Luffy climbed onto, again, a bit hesitantly. Whitebeard raised his hand up to his face, looking eye to eye with Luffy, Ace and Sabo practically vibrating with nervous energy as they watched Luffy stand in the hands of someone who could crush him in seconds.

Luffy made a gesture, a 'get closer' gesture, and Whitebeard brought the boy to his ear. Ace looked to Sabo and the blonde was already one step ahead of him, straining his ears to listen to whatever it was Luffy was trying to tell the Captain, hoping it wouldn't be anything bad. Everyone on the crew was doing the same, all wanting to know what exactly the youngest of the mysterious trio was going to tell their Captain, but none of them had Sabo's hearing so they didn't hear a single thing come from Luffy, not even a whisper.

Sabo, however, heard it all, Whitebeard as well. The words made both parties frown, Ace frowning as well only because he didn't know what was being said.

"The darkness is stronger. You need to watch Teach closer. He's gonna hurt someone and I don't want anyone getting hurt." Why Luffy was telling Whitebeard about the darkness, Sabo had no clue, but there was no going back now. That didn't worry him as much as the fact that the darkness was getting worse though.

To his credit, Whitebeard didn't question any of what Luffy had told him. He merely nodded, still frowning, and pulled Luffy back to look at him again.

"Thank you for the information. I'll look into it." Whitebeard said. The two stared at each other another second longer before Luffy smiled, not as wide as normal, but still a smile.

"Good. I like you, Mr. Giant. Marco too. That's why I told you." Luffy said, turning to look at his brothers, the two of them understanding what Luffy was saying.

He wanted them to know that he trusted them with information that all three of them were hesitant to give out.

'What did he tell him?' Ace asked Sabo, still not knowing. Sabo quickly told Ace while Whitebeard laughed, a smile on his face as well.

"Gurararara~! That's good to hear brat, we like you too." The captain exclaimed, bending down and setting Luffy back onto the ground. Luffy, still grinning, made his way back to his brothers, none of them wanting to leave Whitebeard knowing that Teach had been heading their way minutes ago.

The morning quickly slipped into afternoon after that, the brothers not leaving Whitebeards side as they listened to the Captain tell stories. At one point he had talked to Marco in a hushed voice that only Sabo heard, but he had only told him what Luffy had told him, which none of the brothers minded. It meant that he was taking them seriously, that he might actually be keeping an eye out on Teach like they had told Marco to do. They had no doubts that Marco had already told Whitebeard about their earlier warning, they were actually hoping he did, but Sabo had been so stressed about other things that he hadn't kept an ear out on the man to hear if he had or not.

Lunch was being called by now and the brothers continued to stick by Whitebeard, not heading into the galley until the giant himself did. They didn't want to take any chances, especially not with the spike in darkness that Teach had experienced when he headed their way. They didn't even want to try and figure out what that was about.

Lunch was passing by quickly, as usual, the brothers finishing their meals quickly, as expected of them.

"By the way, I made these for you three." Izo suddenly said as Ace and Luffy scraped the last bites of their food into their mouths. They all watched with curiosity as Izo pulled out three cotton wristbands. They were all the same, a simple black with the Whitebeard logo on the top of it. They each took one, though still confused.

"I thought it would be easier for you three to move around on islands if you didn't have to worry about your numbers showing," Izo explained with a smile, pointing to the inside of his wrist, the same spot where the brothers had their numbers permanently tattooed into their skin. Realization dawned on the brothers and they all felt a bit touched that Izo had made something like that for them.

"Oh, thank you Izo, you didn't have to!" Sabo said, examining his wristband, flipping it around in his hands. Ace and Luffy did the same, Luffy smiling happily at the present while Ace frowned, not quite sure how to take the gift. He wasn't used to people being nice to him without having a reason to be doing so.

"It was no problem, really. I'm glad you three like them." Izo said, returning to his food, reminding Sabo of the little test he was running on the pirates.

"It was very thoughtful Izo. Really, thank you. Thatch, could these two have some seconds please?" Sabo asked, returning to his own meal as well. Thatch, who had been watching along with all the other Commanders, smiled and nodded, jumping up.

"Coming right up Sabo!" He said happily, practically sprinting off to the kitchen for more food.

"I swear, Thatch could only be happier if someone said they got him an unlimited supply of hair gel." Blenheim scoffed, watching his brother run off. The Commanders laughed in agreement, Thatch returning with the seconds.

Ace and Luffy ate the seconds up just as quickly as the first, and without missing a beat Sabo turned to the chef with a smile.

"You wouldn't mind getting them thirds would you?" Sabo asked politely, wondering how the pirates would react. That was what this whole test was about after all. Seeing how they would react. Would they show their true colors and turn on them once they found just how much work they would have to put into accommodating the brothers, or would they show that they truly did just want to help and get them all the food they needed without question?

So far, it was the latter. Thatch, although a bit shocked at the request, nodded, smiling and rushing off again. The Commanders, though, remained looking shocked except for Izo and Marco who were still calmly eating, the Captain as well, though Whitebeard was smiling a bit in amusement according to Luffy.

Once the thirds came and went the brothers left once more, not really knowing what to do now. Whitebeard wasn't out there yet, but neither was Teach. They could sit on the railing until he came out, but what if Teach finished first?

"Why don't we go take a bath, it's been a few days now," Sabo suggested with a sigh. It was true, even though they were much better in terms of staying clean they had been a bit preoccupied lately to worry about hygiene. Ace and Luffy nodded their agreement and the three stalked off toward the bathroom, chatting silently to each other, the previous argument of whether they should stay or go coming up again.

'You promised we could leave, no questions asked, so why are you stopping us?' Ace asked, frustration building. Sabo frowned, already knowing how hypocritical he was being about this whole thing.

'I know, I'm sorry Ace, but that was when I was scared about the fact that someone with darkness was here. I didn't think long term and I wanted all of us off this ship, just like you do. But I've thought about it now, that's why I think we should stay. This place is nice, the pirates, so far, seem to be genuine in their feelings and have only done things to help us despite the many openings they've had to get rid of us one way or another.' Sabo explained, the three slipping into the bathroom silently and shutting the door behind them.

They had already stopped by their room for fresh clothes and they grabbed some towels from a closet on their way back.

'Even if they seem nice it doesn't mean they are! Besides, _darkness_ , remember?!' Ace asked, and it was the same argument that they had had before, the two circling around each other with the same words and expressions they had already made. Luffy started to block out the tapping, worrying more about getting the tub filled with water, fighting the incoming memories of the tanks back at the facility as he did so.

Almost mindlessly Ace dipped his hand into the water, ignoring the slightly draining effect it had on him, and heated his hand up, in turn, heating the water up to a much nicer, hotter temperature for the brothers. If the doctors did anything right it was giving Ace and Luffy an advantage when it came to their resistance to water despite their devil fruits.

The tub wasn't big enough for all three of them so Luffy went first, Sabo helping to wash the boy's hair. Even though they had a resistance it didn't last forever and soon Ace was holding Luffy up to keep him from drooping under the water.

It was slow going, and with all hands preoccupied there was no room for conversation unless the brothers spoke out loud. Slow going and silent. It was almost welcomed, though, for the three to finally have something almost... normal after all of the stress they'd gone through in just the past day alone. To have something as simple and mundane as bathing to preoccupy their time was almost therapeutic for them, allowing a tension that had been present in them just disappear.

Once Luffy was all clean Ace went next, the youngest drying himself off so that he could help when all of Ace's strength was sapped from the water. Luffy relished in the peace rolling off of Ace and Sabo, a nice contrast to the worry, anger, frustration, fear that had taken hold of them for the past couple days. Peace, happiness, and warmth. If Luffy had his way, those would be the emotions that Ace and Sabo would always feel.

Sabo's turn came as quick as Aces went, and without having to worry about his strength disappearing at the touch of the water, he finished the fastest. Ace helped in drying Luffys hair and getting the both of them dressed while they waited for Sabo. The blonde brother finished soon enough, getting out and drying off, rubbing a towel on his head.

"I guess we spent quite a while in here, it sounds like dinners almost done," Sabo said as he headed towards the door. He could hear the chefs wrapping things up, making last second sauces and pulling out finished food.

"Is Whitebeard out there?" Ace asked, not wanting to go out on deck if he wasn't.

"From the sounds of it? Yeah. He's talking to Marco and Thatch. Something about upping the food budget again." Sabo said with a smile. He felt a little bad about using up so much of the crew's resources, but chances were, they were leaving. Even though Sabo could be pretty persuasive, he didn't know if he would be able to convince Ace to stay with the Whitebeards. He was sure he could get Luffy to understand that they should stay, but Ace was fighting tooth and nail to leave and with good reason.

"If they really do want us here then they should be prepared." Ace said with a shrug, the three of them leaving the bathroom and heading to the deck, giving Teach a wide berth. Ace noticed that the man looked their way, but didn't make a move to come near them again. It was a straight walk to Whitebeards chair, the three of them plopping down in front of him without hesitation. The Captain merely glanced at them and smiled before continuing his conversation with Marco and Thatch.

"Why don't we do that then. At the next meeting, we can discuss it further." Whitebeard said, the Commanders nodding in agreement as they headed off, the two of them beginning their own conversation as Whitebeard turned to give them his attention.

"Dinner should be done soon so why don't I tell you about the time I traveled through a storm and nearly capsized?" Whitebeard asked, Luffy's face lighting up at the mention of a story while Ace and Sabo settled down, ready to listen as well.

It would be nice if this was something they could get used too.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

At dinner, Sabo asked for not only seconds, nor thirds, but fourths. He was sure that some of the Commanders broke after that.

Thatch, to his credit, only smiled happily and rushed off each time, returning with equally large amounts of food for his brothers with bottomless pits. Sabo was actually pretty surprised no one had questioned their eating habits more.

When, by the mention of fourths, no one turned on them, Sabo took that as a good sign. A sign that the pirates really were genuine when it came to wanting to keep the brothers happy and comfortable just because they wanted to be nice, not because they had ulterior motives they wanted to fill. Of course, this didn't mean that the brothers trusted the pirates, after all, it was easy to feed someone, but harder to put up with them for long periods of time, so the longer they went without turning on them, the more they would trust this wasn't all an elaborate trap.

Dinner was finished by the brothers at a much slower pace than normal now that they were actually eating their fill. By the time they were done, some of the faster eaters were also beginning to finish as well.

Leaving the galley the brothers headed straight to their room, the three anticipating the debate that was once again going to come up once they got there. They had promised Shanks they would stay another day, and they had, so now they had to decide if they would stay or not.

Depending on how this conversation went determined whether the brothers would stay or go.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Meanwhile, in the galley, the Commanders were looking where the brothers had just left, still a bit surprised at how much they had just seen Ace and Luffy shovel into their mouths.

"Who knew they could eat so much?" Kingdew asked as he ate his own food. Namur scoffed, pushing some food along his plate with his fork.

"Who knew anyone could eat that much?" Namur countered, some laughing in agreement.

"It was surprising though," Izo commented, having been surprised by it as well, but was sure to contain his expression, not wanting to make the brothers uncomfortable seeing as they were opening up to them a bit, even if it was just them eating food.

"Do they always eat so much?" Haruta asked, looking at the stack of plates Ace and Luffy left behind.

"They never said anything about it before..." Jiru said.

"Yeah, but they also didn't tell us when they were practically starving in the infirmary." Thatch said as he too glanced at the dishes.

"They're probably getting more comfortable around us then, right?" Blamenco asked, a bit hopeful.

"Probably. They have been hanging around Pops more lately." Vista mentioned, everyone, looking over at Whitebeard who smiled to his children.

"Whether they're becoming more comfortable around us or not, don't think that they're suddenly healed, my children. What they've been through will take time to work through, but this is a step in the right direction." Whitebeard said, everyone at the table nodding their agreement.

"By the way, what did Luffy tell you today Pops?" Atmos asked. Whitebeard and Marco shared a quick look before they both returned to eating their food.

"It was nothing important son, but I think that was also another step in the right direction," Whitebeard said cryptically, feeling a mix of pride and happiness that the brothers were opening up to them, but also a bit of worry for whatever Luffys warning meant. They had had Teach on their crew for years, decades, and they had never noticed anything off about him, but now suddenly they were being told he would cause trouble for them? Whitebeard didn't think that Luffy was lying, he believed the boy truly felt something bad was going to happen, maybe he even knew for certain that it would, but that didn't calm Whitebeard anymore. It just meant that they had an issue that they didn't know how to resolve quite yet.

He couldn't just turn on one of his children without good reason, so for now, he would keep a close eye on Teach like he had promised. If anything did happen, he would be ready for it. Marco as well.

The first mate ate his food silently, but he was having many of the same thoughts as his Captain, wondering what they should do about Teach. Maybe they should try and get the brothers to explain what would happen, that is, if they even knew. Or they could ask how they knew something would happen in the first place, but the first time Marco asked he hadn't gotten much of an answer.

Like Whitebeard, he believed the brothers, but he didn't know how to handle the situation, especially when they knew so little on what they were supposed to be looking out for. Was Teach going to betray them? Was he going to betray the brothers? Was he going to hurt someone? Was he going to mess up a mission? The unknowns only proved to make him more worried than anything so he decided to push them aside, instead focusing on what he could do, which wasn't much.

Whitebeard and Marco would keep an eye on Teach. They wouldn't let whatever the brothers were sensing happen anytime soon.


	45. To Stay or Not to Stay

Waking up the next day the brothers found themselves heading straight to where they knew Marco was. They had gotten up a bit later than they normally would, more tired than usual due to staying up late last night, arguing over whether they should stay or go.

Ace was, of course, adamant over leaving. Sabo was... not as adamant about staying, but thought it was more beneficial to stay rather than leave. Luffy... Luffy didn't mention his opinion once throughout the whole argument. He had sat silently and watched as his brothers fought back and forth over which was the safer option for them. It wasn't that he didn't have an opinion, because he did, but he didn't want to force his brothers to stay or leave because it was what he wanted.

To be honest, he didn't really mind one way or the other. He adored Shanks, obviously, but he was also starting to grow attached to the Whitebeard pirates as well. With Teach thrown into the equation, though, it made things a bit more complicated. If they left, Luffy would be comforted by the thought that they had warned Marco and Whitebeard about the man, told them about the darkness. He knew the two of them believed him, and he had noticed that they were actually watching the man closer than anyone else on the crew.

All in all, Luffy would be just fine staying or going. As long as he was with his brothers, he would be happy. He would fight as many marines as he had to, eat as little as needed, sleep on the uncomfortable floor, stay awake all night, anything. As long as it meant he and his brothers stayed together, he would be happy.

So Ace and Sabo argued. There was no anger in the argument, frustration sure, but nothing that would cause an actual fight. Ace knew why Sabo wanted to stay and Sabo knew why Ace wanted to leave. There was a good reason for both options, but which one was the best was a much harder decision to come to.

Hence why they were tired after nearly pulling an all-nighter.

Marco was where they knew he would be. Right next to Whitebeard. There was a bit of a routine to the Whitebeard pirates, one the brothers easily picked up on over the course of the three weeks they had been on the ship.

Yes, it had been three weeks already. Time flies.

Almost every morning, Marco would be right beside Whitebeard. Whether it was to give out chores, report something to the Captain, or just stand idly by, the first mate would always be there. After a couple hours he would leave and head off elsewhere, but that wasn't the point. The point was, they knew exactly where the man they needed to talk was. So they went there.

"Marco, Whitebeard, good morning." Sabo greeted, the three of them standing in front of both Whitebeard and Marco. It wasn't that strange for the crew to see the brothers there now. After all, they had spent nearly the entire day yesterday glued to the spot in front of Whitebeards chair.

"Good morning." Whitebeard and Marco greeted back. Instead of the brothers sitting like most expected, they continued standing, Sabo turning to give Marco his attention.

"I was wondering, could we give Shanks another call? I'm sorry to ask about this again, but we had a bit of a... revelation if you will on something he mentioned last time and thought we should tell him about it." Sabo explained with a smile. Marco looked to Whitebeard who nodded.

"No problem, yoi. I'll take you there." Marco said, already beginning to walk away. The brothers followed, Sabo thanking Whitebeard as they passed him. It was, for the most part, silent as they walked, and once they entered the hallway leading to the room they needed it went silent. There was no more chatter from surrounding pirates filling up the space.

"What have you and Red Hair been talking about? You don't have to tell me if you don't want, yoi." Marco said, more to make conversation then anything, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious. Sabo's smile never wavered though. He expected this to be a question that the first mate would ask. After all, they had been having quite a few conversations with the Captain now in a short period of time.

"Nothing much, but Shanks had an idea that he wanted us to give some input on," Sabo explained easily without giving too much detail to the made up story. Marco nodded, accepting the answer as they reached the door. Marco said a quick goodbye and headed off, leaving the brothers alone as they entered the room.

"Before we call, are we all a hundred percent sure this is what we want to do? Now's the time to change our minds." Sabo said, and even though he was saying it, he knew no one would speak up. This had been a long, thought out decision. There wasn't any more to argue on the matter.

When no one said anything Sabo nodded, picking up the snail phone and dialing Shanks' number. Waiting for the Captain to answer was a bit nerve-wracking because once he did and they told him their decision, that would be it. Sure, they could change their mind, but it would be more hassle then it would be worth.

"Red Haired Shanks here, who's this?" Shanks answered, someone yelling at him in the background. Sabo smiled a bit despite his nerves and pulled the speaker a bit closer to his mouth.

"Shanks, it's us," Sabo replied, not needing to say anything more as understanding shone on the snail's face.

"Ah, my three favorite brothers. So, I assume you're calling to give me your decision?" Shanks said. Sabo swallowed, glancing at his brothers for confirmation that this is what they were doing. A nod from Ace reassured him in their decision and he nodded.

"We are."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Maybe we should just ask for more information, yoi. After all, they are the ones who spoke to us about it first." Marco said in a hushed tone as he and his father watched over the crew, spending most of their time watching Teach then anyone else.

"If we do that we could scare them off my son. We need to be patient. Obviously, they know something we don't. Whatever this darkness is that Luffy mentioned, its nothing good, and not only will we be watching out, but the brothers will as well. They'll know what to look for and I'm confident that they'll warn us again if anything is going to happen soon." Whitebeard said calmly. Marco frowned, staying silent for a second.

"Do you think one of them has an ability? A devil fruit maybe that lets them see the future or something, yoi?" Marco asked. Whitebeard frowned in thought.

"I don't know son. The youngest fell in the water a little while ago though, correct?" Whitebeard asked. Marco nodded, thinking back to when Luffy had fallen overboard.

"Yeah, but he treaded water for a bit before Namur got him, yoi. Ace and Sabo didn't jump in after him though, so there's a chance that one of them has it." Marco said.

"It is a possibility. For now though, its only speculation. Who knows, maybe they just have strong intuition. All we can do right now is watch and hope for the best. When the three of them are more comfortable I'm sure they'll give out more information on the topic." Whitebeard said.

"By the way, did the navigator say when we'll be reaching Sabaody?" Whitebeard asked, glancing up into the sky. They had hit a bit of a dry patch in terms of wind and it had slowed their progress to the archipelago.

"They're estimating another day or two of travel. They think the winds should be picking up, but even in Paradise the weather can be unpredictable, especially this close to the New World." Marco said, crossing his arms as he looked into the sky as well. Whitebeard laughed heartily.

"You don't have to tell me about that son, I've traveled these seas for far too long for that to be new information!" Whitebeard laughed. Marco grinned at his Captains joy and nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the three mysterious brothers themselves coming back out onto the deck from where they had been talking to Shanks. They were tapping again, or Sabo was at least. The other two were beside him, and Marco noticed that once Sabo stopped tapping, Ace started.

"I see what you meant before, Marco," Whitebeard said softly. Not to hide the fact that he was talking about the brothers, but more because he was thinking as he spoke. The first mate peeked at his father before nodding. Both of them wore frowns as they thought about what the tapping could be about, but no matter how many times Marco revisited the subject, he didn't get any closer to figuring out what it was.

It didn't matter because the brothers crossed the deck in a timely manner, disappearing once again into the depths of the Moby. They had headed into the hallways that would lead them to the Commanders rooms, as well as the room that they were currently residing in, so Marco assumed they would be there until breakfast was ready.

"Those boys sure are a mystery," Whitebeard said with a smile.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What now?" Ace muttered. They were walking through the empty hall towards their room, having just finished their conversation with Shanks.

"Well… we continue like we planned before all of this happened." Sabo sighed out quietly as they walked right past their room and continued down the hall.

After much debate about how many Marines they could take down, how long they could stay awake until they became nonfunctional, how long they could go without food before losing their strength, they had come to the agreement that they were more likely safe on the Whitebeards ship rather than Shanks'.

"We had already planned on staying indefinitely, so why should we change anything now? We just have to take into account the fact that there's someone with darkness here, that's all." Sabo said in a hushed voice, keeping an ear out for anyone who could possibly be eavesdropping on them.

"We still get to eat lots of food, right?" Luffy questioned, remembering how he had finally been able to eat his fill for once. Sabo nodded.

"Don't worry Lu, you can still eat lots. Actually… I think now's a good time for the next test." Sabo said after a second of thought. Ace and Luffy gave each other a look of confusion before turning to look at Sabo who still looked to be thinking as he glanced around the halls.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked, and he was responded to with their silent language, tipping them off that there was either someone getting too close or this was something Sabo didn't want to chance anyone hearing.

'The pirates didn't react like we thought they would to the fact that you two eat a lot, right?' Sabo asked, the brothers nodding.

'Yeah, they didn't get all mad and kick us out!' Luffy confirmed, smiling a little. He liked the pirates, except for Teach of course, and the fact that they still seemed to accept the brothers, even after knowing how much they could eat, made Luffy like them even more. He sure hoped they weren't acting like Ace and Sabo worried they were.

'Right, so either they've got lots of patience, or they really aren't acting. So, why not step it up, give them a perfect opportunity to get rid of one of us and see what they do?' Sabo asked. Ace frowned at the thought, wondering where Sabo was going with this while Luffy looked even more confused.

'Get rid of us?' Luffy asked. Sabo nodded, looking around again before turning down what the trio found to be a dead end hall.

'That's right. We can give them a chance to easily get rid of one of us and see what they do.' Sabo said, keeping an ear out for anyone coming.

'What do you have in mind?' Ace asked skeptically. He trusted that his blonde brother wouldn't put any one of them in actual harm's way, but that didn't mean Ace would like whatever this plan of his was.

'I think if one of us gets 'lost',' Sabo began, already raising alarms in the eldest's head.

'And have someone find them, then we can see what they would do. The other two would be nearby in case they did try something.' Sabo explained. Ace frowned at the thought.

'But didn't we already kind of do that?' Ace questioned, remembering the time Luffy had gotten lost, for real.

'Yes, but Marco and Thatch found him. We already knew from the start that they were relatively good people, they helped Luffy and kept their promises after all, but I'm talking about a stranger. There are plenty of people on the Moby we haven't met yet, so why not have it be one of them?' Sabo asked. He could tell Ace didn't like the plan, and Luffy didn't seem all that thrilled either, but this was something they needed to do. They couldn't just keep hanging around these pirates forever walking on eggshells. They needed to know their intentions before they were able to finally get comfortable around any of them.

'Who's getting lost?' Ace asked, even though it looked like he already knew the answer. Sabo looked a bit hesitant now, rubbing the back of his head.

'To be honest, I was thinking Luffy…' Sabo admitted, Aces frown deepening at the thought.

"No. Nope. Not happening." Ace denied out loud, shaking his head at the thought. Sabo sighed, already expecting this reaction.

'Ace, come on, it makes the most sense. Think about it, I can't go because we'll need my hearing in case something goes wrong, and even though we told people we don't have fighting experience you still look like you won't go down without a fight. It would deter anyone from actually doing anything. If we send Luffy they'll think he's defenseless and will more then likely do something around him.' Sabo explained.

Everyone went silent now. No talking, no tapping, no noise, nothing. Ace sat, thinking over everything Sabo had just said.

'You and I won't be far away. If the pirate does turn then all Luffy has to do is ask for help. I'll hear him and we can run in and save the day.' Sabo explained, and Ace had to admit that it was the best plan.

'Fine. Where are we doing this?'

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Luffy wandered the halls silently, looking around in wonder as he did. They hadn't really explored this section of the Moby that much and now that he had the chance he was taking in everything he could. It wasn't much different from all the other halls, but this one had its own scents that Luffy had only briefly smelled before.

Footsteps ahead of him clued him in to the reason he was in this hall in the first place. Ace and Sabo were trailing pretty far back, not even visible if Luffy turned around. They had moved to this hallway because according to Sabo this hall was more frequented than the others. This held true because ahead of him, Luffy could see a pirate walking his way.

A quick stock of the man's emotions told Luffy that he was safe for now. There was nothing bad or malicious, just calm and neutrality. Once the man was close enough that he noticed Luffy he noticed confusion worming its way into the man's emotions, and even a little bit of worry.

"Luffy… right?" The man asked a bit hesitantly, looking around the empty hall. Luffy nodded, tilting his head a bit as he observed the man. He wasn't doing anything to harm him yet. So far so good.

"Where are… uh… your brothers?" The man asked, and Luffy could feel a bit of fear beginning to take hold in the man now. That was weird.

"I dunno…" Luffy said in a small voice. He was always told he was a bad liar, and it was true, but Sabo had been teaching him how to lie better so it wouldn't be so easy for people to figure it out. He had told him to keep some truth in his lies, and Luffy did. He didn't really know where his brothers were, he just knew they were behind him somewhere.

"So… you're lost?" The man asked. Luffy nodded, opting to not speaking on that one as he looked around as if he had no clue where he was, but really he didn't want the man to see how much he was sweating from the tiny lie.

"Oh… well, uh…. Why don't I take you… back to the deck? We can look for them there, or find Marco or Pops…" The man said, seemingly a bit unsure. Luffy nodded again, feeling happy that the man hadn't turned on him like Ace thought he would. Luffy knew that most people on board were good people, but he didn't know whether they were just good actors or actually meant well.

"Well… its this way. Oh! Uh, my names Kiseki by the way!" Kiseki said, realizing he hadn't introduced himself. Luffy nodded once more and Kiseki turned, leading him out of the hall and back toward the deck. Luffy smiled as they walked, feeling the worry Ace and Sabo had been feeling dim a bit.

"I like you Kiseki!" Luffy said as they reached the door. Kiseki looked a bit shocked at the boys words, but his shock quickly turned into a smile.

"Thanks, Luffy, I like you too." He said as they walked out onto the deck. Luffy shivered a bit when he noticed Teach was right by the door they had just exited and felt his stomach drop, throat tightening.

How had he not realized that the darkness was so close by?!

Teach seemed to notice that Luffy was by himself at that same moment and Luffy grimaced when he felt the darkness get stronger. Before Teach had a chance to say anything Luffy bolted over to where he knew safety was, smiling brightly in relief.

"Marco!" Luffy cheered happily, using the relief he felt from being away from Teach to sound happy as he charged toward the man. Marco turned with a look of confusion and shock on his face and Luffy had to stop himself from ramming into the man, remembering what he was supposed to be doing in the first place.

"Luffy, yoi. Where are your brothers?" Marco asked, looking around the deck for them. Even though the crew had seen Luffy alone a few times it was never without good reason.

"I got lost again, and Kiseki found me and helped me get out of those long hallways and then I saw you!" Luffy said cheerfully, the lie rolling off his tongue easily with how relieved he felt at being near warmth rather than darkness. Understanding shone on Marcos' face and he sighed, smiling a little.

"Why don't we go find them then, I'm sure they're worried about you," Marco said as he glanced around, and Luffy realized something. He could _feel_ Marco using his haki. He would definitely have to tell Ace and Sabo about that later.

"Come on, yoi, I think they're this way," Marco said as he began leading the way. Luffy nodded, sidling close to the first mate when he realized they would have to pass Teach again. If Marco noticed that Luffy was practically clinging to his side he didn't say anything about it.

Luffy nearly sighed in relief when the door to the deck closed behind them and they were alone again in the hall.

"So, what were you three doing? Were you looking for a specific room?" Marco asked curiously. Luffy shook his head, smiling.

"We were exploring!" He exclaimed happily as he followed his brothers' waves back to where they were. Marco nodded, and Luffy forgot that the man was supposed to be leading them, not the other way around. Slowing down a bit so that Marco would be leading again Luffy looked around, discreetly smelling the air around them.

"Ne, Marco, is breakfast ready yet?" Luffy asked, mouth drooling at the delicious smells wafting their way. Marco glanced at the boy, a small smile on his face as he nodded.

"Should be soon, yoi." He said as they turned a corner.

"That's good. I'm hungry." Luffy said matter-of-factly. They were only walking for another minute or so, turning a few corners when they heard Ace and Sabo.

"I'm telling you, he went this way!"

"Are you sure? He doesn't even know what's over here, wouldn't he go back towards the rooms?"

"This is Luffy we're talking about, he goes towards what he doesn't know."

"True, but-"

"Ace, Sabo!" Luffy cheered happily, jumping away from Marcos side and running into his brothers' arms.

"Luffy! See, told you!" Ace said, sticking his tongue out to Sabo who retaliated with his own.

"You alright Luffy?" Sabo asked, checking over Luffy quickly. Luffy nodded, still grinning.

"Mhm! Kiseki found me and took me to the deck and I found Marco and then Marco found you guys!" Luffy said, telling an entire story within a sentence. Sabo laughed, Ace smiling, and the two turned to Marco.

"Thank you once again for helping our brother. He gets lost easy." Sabo said as Luffy slid in between Ace and Sabo, taking their hands.

"I see that. It was no problem, really, yoi. See you three at breakfast." Marco says, waving it off as he turns to head back to the deck.

"See you there," Sabo responds, the three watching Marco. When he was out of sight the two eldest sighed in relief.

'I didn't think Teach would be right there. Sorry, Lu." Sabo apologized, remembering how he had heard Teach head right to the door Luffy exited with Kiseki. The man had been across the deck when this whole thing started, but once Luffy was headed to the deck, Teach headed to the door.

It didn't sit well with Sabo.

'It's ok, cause I saw Marco and I went to him before Teach could do anything.' Luffy said, even though he was still a bit shaken up at the memory of how close he had been to Teach.

'In any case, the test was a success. Kiseki sounded a bit off, but he didn't try anything. He brought you to Marco.' Sabo said, remembering all of Kiseki's stuttering.

'Mm. He was scared for some reason when he saw you weren't with me. He was worried too and confused, but he was nice!' Luffy said. Sabo and Ace raised an eyebrow at that.

'That's weird. anyway, breakfast is ready, lets head to the galley."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

'What's the next test?' Ace asked from his spot beside Luffy. They were once again in front of Whitebeard, the Captain talking to some nurses about IVs and alcohol. Most of it went over Ace and Luffy's heads so they had instead started talking to each other while Sabo listened, finding out that the Captain was actually quite sick.

'Dunno. Sabo's good at making those.' Luffy answered as he tried to figure out what the nurses were trying to put into the Captain's arm. He liked Whitebeard, and he didn't like nurses. He had found himself watching all of the nurse's movements, making sure the nurses didn't try to hurt the giant on purpose, or try and do tests on him.

'Sabo?' Ace asked, noticing that the blonde was also watching the nurses every movement. Apparently old habits die hard. Even though none of the brothers were being worked on by the nurses they couldn't help but watch their movements for any sign of wrongdoing. Whitebeard was someone they all liked enough to stay by, and if nurses started messing with him, they wouldn't be happy.

'Fine. We'll watch more nurses.' Ace said, but even he had been watching their movements already. The three went silent as they watched, a few Commanders coming by every now and then to talk to Whitebeard, but none of them staying. Right now, Thatch, Marco, and Fossa were there, discussing Kami knew what with the Captain.

"Does that hurt?" Luffy suddenly asked. He didn't feel any pain coming from the Captain, but weren't the nurses poking needles into him? Luffy thought that the liquids in those needles would make him hurt, or make him sleepy, like the liquids the doctors at the facility give him. Whitebeard smiled, shaking his head.

"No, they don't hurt," Whitebeard assured, allowing the nurses to continue injecting things into him.

"But when we got shots they would hurt... or make us sleepy..." Luffy said, tilting his head in confusion.

"These are good shots Luffy, they help people get better. We got bad shots, they weren't supposed to help us get better." Sabo explained as best he could without giving too much away to those listening. Luffy frowned, seeming to think about something.

"So... they're the good shots? Like the ones they gave me and you when we got really really sick?" Luffy asked, remembering the time that Sabo and he had died, but the doctors had given them both a bunch of shots that helped them.

"Exactly, they helped us get better. That's what those shots are doing. They're helping Whitebeard." Sabo said. Luffy seemed to understand.

"Oh, okay! Does that mean you're sick Mr. Whitebeard?" Luffy asked, wondering if that was the case. Or was he dying? When Sabo and Luffy got the shots it was because they were dying and they needed help. Panic started to rise in him at this revelation and his eyes widened, breathing picking up.

Whitebeard couldn't die, he really liked the giant old man! He was a good person and had lots of warmth and kept him and his brothers safe!

Noticing the sudden panic Ace and Sabo both grabbed Luffy's hands, trying to calm him down. They weren't quite sure what had brought the sudden attack on, but they knew it probably wasn't anything good. Some of the pirates around them had noticed Luffy's panic and stopped to watch while the Commanders and Whitebeard watched with a mixture of worry and confusion.

"You're not gonna die, right?! You're not getting shots because you're dying are you?!" Luffy asked fearfully, only seconds away from jumping up and doing anything he could think of to keep the man in front of him from dying.

Ace and Sabo suddenly understood where the panic was coming from. After all, Luffy didn't have many good experiences with shots. The only time anyone around him got good shots was when they were so sick they were dying, and in their cases, dead.

"Gurarara~! Don't worry brat, I'm not dying anytime soon!" Whitebeard laughed, all of the brothers letting out sighs of relief at the words. Luffy calmed down considerably and nodded. It was silent now as the nurses began working again, the Commanders eventually continuing their conversation with Whitebeard.

'So... Sabo.' Ace tapped eventually, once they had all calmed down a bit.

'What?' Sabo asked, still watching the nurses along with his brothers.

'New plan?' Ace asked, wondering what the next one would be. The pirates had to be acting, and the fact that they hadn't done anything yet was a bit unnerving. A soft sigh left Sabo as the nurses finished up, packing needles in bags and removing gloves.

'I don't know yet. Give me some time to think about one.'

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

**Omake:**

"I heard you ran into little Luffy earlier Kiseki." A man said as he and Kiseki sat in a circle with a few other men, drinking. It was a nice night out, and they weren't on watch so it was as good a time as ever to hang out, drink, and play cards.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I did." Kiseki said, laughing a little. His friend raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, what was he like? Man, I've tried talking to him and his brothers since they got here but they every time I try they just walk off or completely ignore me." The man complained, his friends making noises of agreement. Kiseki shrugged.

"He was ok I guess. He was lost, so I brought him to the deck and Commander Marco took care of him." Kiseki explained.

"The hero Kiseki, helping out kids whenever possible!" Another man joked, patting Kiseki on the back. Everyone laughed at that as the dealer dealt out everyone's hand.

"So, did you talk to him?" The first man asked. Kiseki, once again, laughed, this time sheepishly.

"Actually... I was too scared..." Kiseki said a bit hesitantly, already knowing he was going to be endlessly made fun of for this.

"Scared? Of what?! He's just a kid!" The man across from his said, everyone laughing again.

"Yeah, but it wasn't him I was scared of! It's his brothers! You've seen those glares Ace gives, I wouldn't be surprised if he could pack a punch, and I do not want to be on the receiving end of it because I accidentally made Luffy sad or something!" Kiseki defended, and suddenly everyone understood a bit more, nods going around as they remembered the glares Ace would give whenever someone looked their way.

"I see what you mean... but you were scared of a kid."

Kiseki groaned.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Sabo made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a snort. His brothers looked at him with confusion.

"What was that?" Ace asked, wondering what noise had just come from Sabo. The blonde shook his head, walking over to their bed and laying down.

"Nothing, someone was just proving my point."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> We had a little bit of trust gained, a little bit of Teach, and a little bit of humor there at the end. We also learned that Luffy can sense when others use haki. Seeing as haki is someones will manifesting itself, I feel like its almost like their soul, so by reading someones soul, by extension, Luffy can also feel their haki.
> 
> There was a close call with Teach, but Luffy used his quick thinking and avoided him. Its still unknown what Teach is up to, and will be for some time, but that doesn't mean that nothing will be happening! Sabaody is coming up soon, and after that, Fishman Island!
> 
> Also, the brothers' have taken to testing the pirates, and if they pass all of them, there's a good chance the trio will become more comfortable with the fact that no one is turning on them. Of course, there's also the alternative where one of them becomes frustrated that the pirates seem too nice and end up starting a fight or something, but that as well is something that we'll just have to wait and see.


	46. The Big Question

It was at lunch the next day that Sabo finally thought up a new plan to get the pirates to turn on them. Even though the whole point of this was to find out whether the pirates were acting or not, the three brothers found themselves getting more and more desperate for the pirates to finally turn on them.

It was unnerving for the pirates to keep smiling, to keep the niceties going, to be helpful and accommodating. Everyone the brothers had ever met always had other intentions when being nice to the brothers. No one was nice without reason, whether it was because they wanted to trick them, trap them, lure them into a false sense of security, or hurt them.

They didn't count Makino or Emily.

'So? What's the new plan?' Ace asked as they left the galley. Ace was itching to get the pirates to show their true colors. He didn't believe for one second that they were all actually this nice and helpful. They _were_ pirates after all.

'The only thing I can think to do is to try and get them mad and see how they react, but there's not much we can do to get them mad without picking a fight with them, which is not what we want to do.' Sabo started, Ace and Luffy nodding in agreement.

'Because of that, we have to do something that would be annoying and would give them an excuse to get mad if they wanted.' Sabo continued.

'What's that?' Ace asked, wanting to know.

'That's the easy part. The crew has chores, right? We've seen them cleaning the deck plenty of times, and they always have those buckets of water with them when they do. All we have to do is knock one over and see how they react.' Sabo explained as they walked towards their room.

Because the brothers were eating more during meal times they were finishing later than they used to, but they also had more energy and it was easier for them to do more without getting tired. Despite this, Sabo still had them head to their room because, normally, they would sit with Whitebeard and listen to stories, but seeing as they had this plan it would look weird if they suddenly stood up and went and knocked over a bucket with seemingly no reason. It had to look like an accident.

Once they reached the room they wasted a bit of time just hanging out. Luffy laid on the bed, in a weird inbetween state of asleep but awake, and Ace was pacing, his nerves still bouncing over the fact that this could be the time that the pirates finally attack. Sabo shared Aces nerves, both of them still more than a bit confused as to why the pirates hadn't done anything to turn on them after all this time.

They waited in there about an hour before Sabo heard cleaning supplies being taken out and buckets being filled with water. Another few minutes and everyone was in position, cleaning the deck while others milled around them.

'Alright, its time to go.' Sabo announced, Ace going and getting Luffy up. The boy was a bit groggy and disoriented, but got up anyways, following Ace and Sabo to the door as they headed out. The walk was quick and within a few minutes, they were out on deck once again. Ace could see the people swabbing the deck, along with the buckets that littered the area around them.

Ace and Sabo didn't even have a chance to pretend to stumble over there and knock one over because... well, frankly, Luffy did it for them.

Apparently, the young teen was so groggy and disoriented that, while rubbing his eyes, he had drifted away from his brothers and managed to trip right over one of the buckets himself, both him and the bucket toppling to the floor. There were a few gasps as people noticed the boy fall and Ace and Sabo rushed over to their brothers' side. They couldn't get there before he managed to fall face first into the water he knocked over, but they helped him up regardless, Ace using his shirt to wipe off the water falling down Luffy's face while Sabo turned to gauge the reactions of those around them.

"We're sorry for this, I guess Luffy was more tired then we thought," Sabo said truthfully. Even though this had been their plan in the first place, it hadn't gone exactly how they thought it would.

"Oh, its no problem. Is he alright? That was some fall!" The pirate who had been next to the bucket said, sending a worried look to Luffy.

"He's fine. Come on Luffy, let's go change your clothes." Ace said, noticing that quite a bit of water had gotten on Luffy, enough to drain the boy if they didn't change soon. Luffy followed as Ace led them away while Sabo gave a polite smile, beginning to follow them as well.

"Again, sorry about the mess!" Sabo called as they walked off. It looked like most of the pirates were too shocked to even know what to do, making it the perfect time for the brothers to leave.

"Well... can't say I expected that..." Sabo muttered as the door shut behind them. He turned to look at Luffy, noticing his black hair was dripping and his clothes were thoroughly soaked from where he landed in the puddle.

"Either way we did it. Now we just have to wait for those bastards to come running after us." Ace said, still entirely convinced that the pirates were acting and this would be the last straw. Sabo looked at Ace for a minute but said nothing, instead turning to face forward again.

"The plan worked, right?" Luffy suddenly asked, looking much more awake then he had been previously. Sabo chuckled a little but nodded.

"Yes Lu, it worked. You could have told us you were still too tired." Sabo said, remembering that Luffy had seemed groggy getting up, but not groggy enough to go stumbling over buckets.

"I wasn't, but the cleaning stuff hurt my nose and gave me a headache and I got confused for a second," Luffy explained, scrunching his nose a few times at the memory. Ace and Sabo suddenly felt bad, not realizing that Luffy had been asleep enough that his senses would be overloaded once they walked out of their room.

"It's fine, I didn't know either. I didn't think I fell asleep." Luffy said with a shrug, noticing the guilt that came rolling off of his brothers. This stopped Ace and Sabo from saying anything, but they still felt a bit guilty as they entered their shared room.

Sabo went to the closet to get more clothes while Ace helped get Luffy out of his soaked clothes.

"So, I guess that plan didn't work. What's next?" Ace asked.

"Ace, we can't just throw one thing after another at them. Even if they aren't acting they can still get mad. Anyone would if we kept pushing." Sabo explained with a sigh as he pulled out a shirt and pants, turning around and helping Luffy into them.

"Yeah, but I don't like it! They're just so... so..."

"Nice?" Sabo asked, seeing that Ace was having a hard time with the word. Ace shot him a glare, grumbling.

"Pirates aren't nice. Pirates are supposed to be mean and greedy, not nice and helpful." Ace said, and Sabo had to agree with him on that one. It wasn't every day that you saw nice pirates.

"To be fair, Doctors are supposed to be nice and helpful, not mean and greedy." Sabo countered, making Ace laugh spitefully.

"I think we live in opposite world then. Or we just have really shitty luck." Ace said as he walked to the bed and flopped onto it, face buried in the pillows. Sabo laughed while Luffy looked confused.

"Opposite world?" He asked, not knowing what Ace meant by that. The blonde shook his head, ruffling Luffys damp hair.

"Its nothing Lu, Ace is just a bit confused," Sabo said before frowning and looking to the door.

"Or he might just be right." He said as he walked up to the door, looking ready to open it. Now Ace and Luffy were both confused as they watched Sabo's back.

"Huh? What'd'you mean?" Ace asked as he sat up and turned to look at Sabo.

"Well, it would seem that Marco's on his way over here. Whether its because he's mad or because he's worried about Luffy, who knows." Sabo explained with a shrug as he listened to the footsteps get closer. Luffy moved to the door as well so he could get a better read on Marcos feelings.

"Not mad. A little bit of worry, but it's not why he's coming. He's calm." Luffy said softly in case Marco was close enough to hear.

"So this is it then? They're turning?" Ace asked, sitting up in a defensive position, ready for a fight.

"We don't know that yet, Ace, calm down!" Sabo hissed quietly, glaring at the hot-headed teen. Ace glared back but didn't drop his position. Shaking his head Sabo turned back to the door, opening it right as a knock resounded in the room. Luffy backed away as the door opened, moving beside Ace while Sabo looked out.

"Hello, Commander," Sabo said politely, smiling to Marco as he did. Marco nodded his head in greeting, noticing that he couldn't see in the room like always when Sabo answered.

"Hello Sabo, is Luffy alright, yoi?" Marco asked, to which Sabo replied with a nod.

"He is, he was just a little disoriented after his nap." The blonde responded easily.

"That's good. I came because Pops wanted to talk to you three." Marco said, getting to the point. Sabo's smile remained on his face, though it was a bit strained now.

"Oh? Alright, we'll head right over." Sabo answered, Marco nodding.

"He'll be in the room with the snail phones when you're ready, yoi." The first mate said as Sabo began closing the door.

"Thank you, Commander," Sabo said as he shut the door completely, turning to Ace and Luffy with a frown.

"So they _are_ turning." Ace said in an ' _I told you so_ ' manner. Sabo rolled his eyes, but he was also beginning to feel that way.

"If they are, we need to be ready. Luffy, you're awake now right? The smells won't be too much for you?" Sabo asked, Luffy shaking his head.

"No, I'm fine now." The youngest responded, feeling a bit tense at the prospect that the pirates were turning on them.

"Good. If they are turning on us then don't fight Whitebeard. He's too strong for all of us put together. Focus on getting a snail phone and getting out of there. We should be able to run to one of the lifeboats we saw and can call Shanks on the way." Sabo said, quickly coming up with a plan. Ace and Luffy listened carefully, nodding their agreement as they did.

"Well? Let's go get this over with then!" Ace said, wanting to release all his pent up energy from these past weeks. The stress of waiting for the pirates to attack was enough to make Ace go insane.

"Fine, fine, don't be so eager to run into these things Ace," Sabo said as he walked to the door with his brothers. Luffy was snug in the middle as always, nervous energy building in him as they walked. He did like the pirates so it would be too bad if they really were turning on them right now.

"Then tell these things to stop happening." Ace countered as they walked out. Sabo didn't bother responding to that as they made their way through the hall and to the deck. To get to the room Whitebeard was in they had to cross the deck and go into the door on the other side, but right in that path, Teach stood, talking to someone. They definitely didn't want to go near the man, but they didn't have much choice. Huddling together they walked briskly, trying to keep anyone from stopping them, especially Teach.

However, right as they passed him, Teach stopped talking to his friend and turned their way.

"Hey, you three are the new kids, right?" Teach asked. It seemed pleasant enough, he was smiling politely and gave off a peaceful air, but knowing what was going on in that mans head, they shivered. The peaceful vibe became a threatening aura, the polite smile was much more menacing, and the pleasantness of his voice was more hostile. However, Sabo put on a polite face as well, ignoring the warning bells in his head telling him to take his brothers and run.

"We are," Sabo said simply, not wanting to elaborate any further.

"Well its nice to finally meet 'ya. Names Teach." Teach said, holding out a hand. Sabo looked at the hand, knowing that the man was looking for a handshake, but couldn't quite bring himself to raise his own to meet him.

'Don't.' Aces simple tap was easy to catch, but Sabo couldn't just _not_ shake the man's hand. If the pirates actually weren't turning on them it wouldn't be good to make enemies with a man who was already dangerous to them.

So, swallowing his fear and anxiety, Sabo raised his hand, gripping Teach's hand in his with a tense smile.

"Likewise," Sabo said curtly as they shook. The millisecond that it took felt like an hour as the two stared at each other, but, finally, his hand was released and the brothers were turning on their heels, speed walking as fast as they could away from the man with the darkness.

"I need to wash my hand in acid," Sabo muttered with a scowl. He could almost feel the uncleanliness of the man on his hand. Ace looked at the blonde's hand with a sneer.

"Told you not to touch him." Ace replied. Luffy remained silent, glancing at Sabo's hand as well, practically feeling the darkness taking residence on his brother's hand.

The brothers reached the door that would take them to Whitebeard quickly after that and sighed in relief. After having to talk with Teach, anything would be better than that, even the pirates turning on them.

'Ready?' Sabo asked, raising a hand to hold the doorknob of the meeting room. Ace and Luffy nodded, giving Sabo the ok he needed to open the door. Whitebeard and Marco were the only two in the room, the Captain sitting at the head with Marco in the chair right at his side. It made the three feel a bit more at ease knowing that all they had to do was get a snail phone away from these two and then book it rather than have to fight an entire room of Commanders. Still, it was the two strongest people on the ship in a single room.

"Hello, boys." Whitebeard greeted as the brothers sat at the opposite end of the table.

"Good afternoon, Whitebeard," Sabo replied as he sat down.

"We heard you wanted to speak with us." Sabo continued as he watched the Captain carefully, ready for anything.

'Luffy, if this does turn into a fight, don't hide your powers. Use them to grab a snail phone so we can leave.' Sabo tapped as he saw the snail phones all at the end of the table where Whitebeard was at. Luffy tapped, telling Sabo that he understood.

"I did. I was actually wondering something." Whitebeard said, confusing the brothers a bit.

"What is it?" Sabo asked a bit cautiously. He didn't know what the Captain could be wondering. Was it the facility? That would be the safest option to assume. He could see Aces leg bouncing in anticipation, his fists clenching and unclenching in his lap.

"Well, I was wondering if you three would like to join my crew. Become my sons." Whitebeard announced, his voice sounding almost too loud in the small, quiet room.

Anything that the brothers could have been imagining suddenly crashed around them at the Captains exclamation. Everything they had thought was going to happen, everything they expected to be said, none of this was it.

'He wants us to join?!' Ace asked in shock, leg ceasing its incessant bouncing, hands unclenched in his lap. Sabo couldn't even think up a response as he sat in a much similar state of shock. His eyes were as wide as Aces and he was just barely able to keep his jaw from hanging.

Luffy, for the most part, was unaffected by the question. He understood what the Captain was asking, but he wasn't sure why he was asking it. Didn't they make him mad with all the tests that Sabo thought of? Why would he want them to stay? Looking over at his brothers he realized they weren't going to answer anytime soon, and Luffy didn't need his powers to tell him they were in shock.

"Why?" Luffy speaking snapped his brothers out of it, both of them looking between Whitebeard and Luffy, wondering what the response would be.

"I like you three," Whitebeard said simply as if that explained it all.

'Luffy?' Ace needed confirmation that the man was being genuine in his words. He couldn't believe that after three weeks with the brothers the man liked them. He knew nothing about them!

'He means it.' Luffy affirmed as he felt the genuine nature roll easily off the Captain.

'Aura?' Sabo asked because he was having the same doubts as Ace.

'Still blue. No grey. Marco too.' Luffy reported. Ace and Sabo shared a look, wondering what their next step should be.

"How can you like us when you don't know anything about us?" Sabo asked in an even tone, still unsure about the entire thing. Whitebeard chuckled.

"But I do know about you. I know you have big appetites, I know you all are brothers, I know you would do anything to keep each other safe, and I know all three of you are good people. What more do I need to know?" Whitebeard asked, astounding Ace and Sabo some more while Luffy merely sat back and listened.

"B-but that doesn't mean anything! What if we aren't as good as you think?" Ace asked, thinking back to all the horrible things the Doctors at the facility made them do. Whitebeard shrugged.

"I don't. And I won't. Not unless you tell or show me, but as I know you now, I don't believe that could be possible." Whitebeard said in a confident tone.

"What if we become more trouble then we're worth? We've already got marines after us, and you don't even know what happened back at the facility." Sabo added.

"We're pirates, Marines are already after us, what's a few more? As for the facility, its true, I don't know what happened there, and I don't expect to know unless you want to tell me about it, but that's your past, it doesn't define who you are now. Whatever happened there has nothing to do with the person you are now." Whitebeard said, and it amazed Luffy how genuine someone could feel when they were talking. It was like the warmth, he had never felt so much of it come from one person.

"But it does! We are who we are because we had to be it! We aren't who we were when we went into that place, and we never will be again." Ace said angrily, fists clenched again as he fumed. Luffy frowned at the feelings coming from his brother and hated the facility even more for making him feel that way. Meanwhile, Sabo watched him in shock, not having expected that outburst from the eldest.

"And is that a bad thing?" Marco suddenly asked, the brothers nearly forgetting he was there.

"What?" Ace asked, confused by the question.

"Is it a bad thing that you've become the person you are now?" Marco elaborated. Ace went silent as he thought the question over. When he didn't respond for a minute, Whitebeard spoke.

"I'm sure whatever you three went through back at the facility was horrible, and I don't expect you becoming my sons to change that. I know things are difficult for you three and that you'll have lasting scars, but that doesn't need to keep you back from moving forward. I want you as my sons because I like you, and I want to help you. You don't need to accept if you don't want to, but I wanted to extend the offer anyways." Whitebeard explained calmly.

Silence reigned over the room once more as the brothers thought over the Captains words. They still didn't know how to feel about the whole situation, especially because, just moments ago, they had been testing the pirates on whether they were actually good people or not.

"If you don't mind, I think we need some time to think this over," Sabo said a bit hesitantly. Whitebeard nodded.

"Of course, take as much time as you need." He said, the brothers standing from their seats.

"Thank you, Whitebeard, Marco. We'll see you later." Sabo said as they walked to the door, leaving.

They made the walk back to their room much quicker then they had made the walk to the meeting room. It helped that they weren't stopped this time.


	47. Adventures on Sabaody

It had been another sleepless night for the brothers as they mulled over what answer they should give to Whitebeard. On one hand, they already stayed on the ship and hung around everyone. Joining wouldn't be much more different than how things already were. On the other hand, joining would mean that they would have to answer to Whitebeard as a Captain. Also, if the brothers wanted to leave, it wouldn't be as easy as it would if they didn't join.

Ace, for once was unsure about what to do. He didn't feel strongly toward one side or another, and that actually shocked Sabo and Luffy more then Whitebeards offer had.

"It's only because you've been trying to convince me they're good people!" Ace had defended indignantly, arms crossed as he looked away from his brothers' suspicious gazes.

After having slept on it, albeit it having only been a few hours of sleep, the brothers were still just as far away from an answer as they had been yesterday.

"Maybe if we eat then we'll know!" Luffy suggested, his stomach growling as he smelled breakfast. Sabo sighed but smiled at Lufffy's antics.

"Breakfast is done now, so we may as well go and eat," Sabo said with a shrug. Ace was silent, but nodded his agreement, following his brothers out the door.

They didn't know if Whitebeard had talked to everyone else about the fact that he wants the brothers to join, but not knowing made every pair of eyes that much more overbearing. They knew Whitebeard had told them they could take their time in thinking over their decision, but how long was he willing to wait?

When they got to the galley and got their food they ate it silently and quickly. Right as they stood to leave though, Izo stopped them.

"Don't forget your wristbands today." The brothers were a bit confused as to what that meant, but Izo continued.

"We should be landing at Sabaody today. I was just saying that you should remember those wristbands I made you if you wanted to walk around." Izo elaborated.

"Oh, thank you Izo, we'll be sure to wear them then," Sabo said, completely forgetting that they were supposed to be landing today. Sabo said their goodbyes and the brothers headed straight to their room.

"Sabaody's the place Thatch was talking about, right? The one with the marine base?" Ace asked as Sabo took out their wristbands that he had put in the desk drawer. The blonde nodded, handing Luffy and Ace their bands while slipping his over his wrist. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"It is. That means we should probably stick around the pirates or even the ship. We don't want to risk wondering over to it." Sabo said, shutting the drawer and sitting in the chair.

"We can't go exploring then?" Luffy asked sadly, already pouting. Sabo sighed.

"We cant Lu, sorry. Maybe next time, when we know it'll be safer to explore." Sabo said. Luffy nodded, still obviously upset, but accepting his brothers' words.

"In the meanwhile, we should probably discuss Whitebeards offer more," Sabo said, leaning back in the desk chair and staring at the ceiling.

"We don't want to leave so joining is the best option, but we also don't want to be restricted because we joined." Ace summed up as he laid down in bed, Luffy curling up beside him. Sabo nodded with another sigh.

"We also know that, so far, they've passed all of our tests. I don't know, maybe these pirates really _are_ nice and just want to help us." Sabo said, conflicted. Ace frowned at that.

"I don't know... what if they just want us to feel that way so they can learn about what happened in the facility? What if, when they find out, they don't want us here anymore?" Ace asked, Luffy curling up closer at the mention of the facility again.

"The only way to know for sure would be to tell them and see what they do. There isn't really a test we could do to figure out how they would react to information like that." Sabo said in frustration, wishing things could just be easier for them. After everything the world had thrown at them, why couldn't things just be easy now?

"There should be..." Ace muttered dryly, and suddenly, Sabo had an idea, one he knew Ace definitely would not like by any stretch of the imagination.

"Actually... I think there is..." Sabo said a bit hesitantly, regretting the words as fast as he spoke them. Ace and Luffy sat up, both looking at Sabo in confusion. Ace, because he wanted to know what Sabo's idea was, but Luffy because he could feel the apprehension and worry coming from Sabo from the idea.

"What is it?" Ace asked. Sabo bit his lip, looking away from his brothers.

"You're not going to like it." He said, hoping Ace would drop it after that, knowing he shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.

"So what? I haven't liked half of your plans, but we still did them." Ace said with a scoff.

"Yeah, well... this isn't like my other plans," Sabo admitted, only making his brothers more curious.

"You can't just bring it up and not tell us, come on." Ace pushed. Sabo sighed again, this time in defeat.

"I warned you. The only way we can know how they'll react to having such sensitive information about us is if we tell them something equally sensitive." Sabo began. Ace raised an eyebrow at this, waiting for Sabo to continue.

"And I was thinking that the only other information we've got that's that important would be... your father," Sabo said, not even daring to speak his name.

As expected Ace immediately grew angry, scowling and making fists.

"Nope. No way." Ace said immediately, not even allowing himself to think about the idea.

"And this is why I didn't want to tell you. That's the only thing we could do to figure out how they would react to the facility." Sabo said.

They're conversation was cut short when Sabo heard that they were docking. Telling his brothers as much they all got up and headed to the deck where they stood by the railing, out of everyone's way. They watched people get ready, heard the Captain give orders, and watched people walk off the ship with smiles and coins.

"Alright you three, let's go touring!" Thatch spoke up behind them. Turning, they saw the chef heading their way, holding out three bags for them to take, presumably filled with money. Thanking the chef, they each took a bag, Sabo taking Luffys, and followed the man off the ship.

"You're our tour guide today?" Sabo asked lightly, noticing that Thatch seemed extremely happy.

"That's right! Good ol' Thatch'll show you all the hot spots here at Sabaody! All while avoiding those pesky marines!" Thatch announced. Luffy decided that he liked Thatch a lot, and it wasn't just because the man was radiating good emotions either. He hadn't forgotten that Thatch was one of the first people he had met, and not only that, but he was someone who kept promises and made food, which were all bonuses in Luffy's eyes.

Yeah, Thatch was a good guy.

"Where to first then, Mr. Tour Guide?" Sabo asked as he and his brothers looked around, noticing the tall mangroves and the bubbles floating up from the ground.

"Well, I think the most logical place to start would be groves 40-49, the tourist section!" Thatch exclaimed as he headed, presumably, to those groves. The trio followed, watching with wonder as bubbles formed out of the ground, floating high into the sky to the point that they couldn't even see them, save for Ace and his supervision, before popping.

"Anything you want, I bet you'll find it here!" Thatch said, gesturing his arms out wide, showing off the giant selection of stalls surrounding them.

"Woah! So much stuff!" Luffy exclaimed, ready to run off, but knowing he couldn't.

"That's right! Why don't we go look around for a bit? As long as you can pay for it with what's in your pouches, you can get it." Thatch said, gesturing to their pouches of money they had been given.

"You mean like a hat for Ace? And Sabo too!" Luffy asked, confusing Thatch a bit, however, the chef nodded.

"Yeah, even hats. Why do you ask?" Thatch asked as Luffy practically began dragging his brothers off to the many stalls, looking specifically for one selling hats.

"Because Ace needs a hat like me and Sabo's! And Sabo lost his hat a long time ago, so he needs a new one!" Luffy said a determined look on his face as he scanned the stalls around him. Ace and Sabo were a bit surprised that Luffy remembered the fact that he wanted to get them hats seeing as he had mentioned it so long ago.

"Ah, I guess that makes sense. What about that one?" The chef asked, pointing to a stall that was, indeed, selling a wide variety of hats. Luffy beamed, already dragging the group that way, careful not to stretch his arms too far.

"Perfect!" He said happily as they walked up to the cheery looking vendor.

"Hello there and welcome to Humphreys Hats! Any hat you could ever want or need can be found right here!" The man, presumably Humphrey, said cheerfully. Sabo smiled to the man seeing as Luffy was already knee deep in hats. The stall was a standard size with hats lining the shelves behind Humphrey, as well as a few racks in front of the counter that Luffy was perusing through, picking up and inspecting hats before dropping them to the floor and moving on to the next. This left Ace and Sabo with the task of catching and returning the hats to their proper place before continuing.

Thatch, however, was right by Luffy's side, helping him pull off hats and showing them off to the youngest, sometimes even placing the hats on Ace and Sabo's head so he and Luffy could see what they looked like.

"What about this one?" Thatch asked, holding up a very jester-esque hat, to which Luffy shook his head with furrowed brows.

"Mm... No, maybe something more like this." He said, holding up a very bright red hat that almost looked like a mariachi hat with two black tassels hanging off of it. Thatch nodded, seemingly in understanding, as he continued his search.

"Who do you think he wants that hat to be for?" Ace asked as he caught the red hat before it hit the ground, turning it over with a grimace. Sabo smiled wickedly at him, making him frown.

"If I know Luffy? Probably you." Sabo said, catching a baby blue ball cap.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ace asked, catching a pea green knitted cap.

"It means that he's most likely going to find me a hat like the one I already had, whereas he's finding you a completely new one. That one looked nothing like my top hat." Sabo said, pointing back to the red one, simultaneously catching a brown fedora. Ace pouted but didn't say anything more.

"This one?"

"No, more colorful."

"This one?"

"No, too tall."

"This one?"

"No, too glittery." Ace was thankful that Luffy didn't like the glitter bomb of a hat that Thatch had suggested. The pair continued searching with Luffy giving his criticisms as they went, and soon they were running out of hats to look at.

"What about-"

"This one!" Luffy shouted happily as he held up a bright orange cowboy hat with two similarly orange tassels dangling down, connected by a wooden circle with a skull on it. Luffy grinned proudly as he bounced over to Ace, placing the hat down on his head.

"See! It's perfect!" Luffy said happily as he stood back and admired his achievement.

"Huh, it actually does suit him," Sabo said, slightly amazed.

"You're right Luffy, it looks pretty good!" Thatch said, a pleased smile on his face as he took in the hat. Ace didn't know how he felt about all the attention, especially when he couldn't see what the hat looked like on him. Before he could snap though, Thatch spoke up again.

"I guess its too bad we couldn't find something for Sabo here though." He said, walking up to the counter with Luffy.

"What are you talking about? That one's Sabo's." Luffy said, pointing to a navy blue, almost black top hat sitting on the shelf behind the vendor.

"Told you so," Sabo whispered to Ace who hit Sabo's shoulder with a glare.

"Whatever." Ace muttered as he walked up to the counter as well.

"Can we have that hat? Please?" Luffy asked, saying the please almost as an afterthought, but beaming as he felt pride come from Sabo and felt a ruffle of his hair from Ace.

"Right away!" Humphrey said jovially, turning and grabbing the hat and handing it over to Luffy, who placed it on Sabo's head.

"See! Perfect! It's just like your old one!" Luffy said.

"Here, this'll help," Barney said, pulling out a tiny mirror that they could hold. Ace took it first, looking over the orange cowboy hat and finding that he didn't hate it as much as he thought he would. Passing the mirror to Sabo the blonde had a much similar reaction, though he hadn't expected to hate it much at all, after all, it was very similar to his old hat.

"Good picks Luffy. How much for the both of them?" Sabo asked. After getting a price Sabo pulled the amount out of Luffy's pouch, handing over the money and thanking the man as they left.

"Alright, anything else you three are looking for?" Thatch asked, his hands behind his head as he walked casually along.

"Accessories!" Luffy announced, confusing them all once again.

"Accessories?" Ace, Sabo, and Thatch all asked in unison. Luffy merely nodded, seeming to spot whatever stall he was thinking of and walking that way.

"Welcome to Abigail's Accessories! How may I help you?" Abigail asked with a cheery smile.

"We're just looking," Sabo replied politely as Luffy gazed at the many necklaces, glasses, bags, pins, and more. Like the last stall, some were on shelves behind the vendor, some were on cases in the counter, and there was a small shelving unit in front of the stall with even more thing on it.

Luffy looked through all the cases, all the shelves, looking for whatever it was he was after, and after looking into one of the cases his pensive look turned into another smile.

"This one!" Luffy said, pointing inside the case. Abigail bent over the counter to see what Luffy was looking at, and once she recognized it she smiled.

"Ah, yes, the beaded twins! Good choice!" She said, Luffy picking the case up and putting it on the counter.

"And those too!" He said as he peered around the woman to a pair of goggles. She nodded and grabbed the item, bringing it back to the counter with her.

"The beaded twins come with this necklace for free if you want it," Abigail said as she pulled out another item, a red beaded necklace. Luffy nodded happily, turning to Sabo expectantly who sighed, walking up and pulling out the necessary amount of money while Luffy happily scooped up his newly purchased items.

"So, what are those for Luffy?" Thatch asked, confused as to why Luffy had purchased such seemingly random items.

"They're accessories! For Ace and Sabo's hats! They look boring without them." Luffy said, pulling Ace a bit lower so he could place 'the beaded twins' on his hat. It was a similarly red beaded band with a smiley face and frowny face at the front that fit perfectly around Aces hat. Luffy also put the necklace around Aces neck before moving onto Sabo and doing the same to him, placing the goggles on his hat.

"They look splendid!" Abigail said, clasping her hands from where she watched. Luffy beamed proudly at his purchases while Ace and Sabo looked at each other.

"Huh, those look familiar. It's like you never lost your old hat, Sabo." Ace said, admiring how similar to the old one's Sabo's new goggles and hat looked.

"Can't say the same for you Ace, you never had a hat, but you don't look too bad either." Sabo agreed, taking Aces previous statement as a compliment.

"Good job Lu." Ace and Sabo said, patting Luffys shoulders as Luffy continued beaming proudly.

After that the group walked through more stalls, getting some food and other tiny trinkets. Luffy was set on buying a telescope that one of the vendors was selling, and Ace and Sabo decided to split the price seeing as Luffy had gotten them stuff already.

"Now I can see like Ace!" Luffy had exclaimed, looking through the scope happily as he spun around, looking at different things.

"Do you normally have bad eyesight?" Thatch asked, confused as to what Luffy meant.

"No, uh, Ace just has really good eyesight is all. He can see way better than Luffy and I." Sabo said a bit nervously. Noticing that he had slipped up Luffy quickly apologized with taps, which the brothers responded to with a, 'its fine, but be more careful.'

With this new knowledge, Thatch had begun testing Ace on how far he could see.

"What's that say?" Thatch asked, pointing to a sign that the group wasn't close enough to actually read yet.

"Pizzazz's Pizza." Ace said, seeing the sign clear as day.

"What about that one?!" Thatch asked joyfully, pointing to another sign.

"Freddy's Fashion Show." This was almost too easy for him.

"That one?" Thatch asked, but it was just a bit too far for Ace to be comfortable with reading out loud. Normal people definitely couldn't see that far.

"Don't know." He said, ignoring the fact that he actually did know and would be keeping Luffy far away from 'Rory's All You Can Eat'.

"Man, we should have you do watch, no one would be able to sneak up on us!" Thatch said with a laugh. Ace and Sabo smiled along while Luffy continued window shopping happily, enjoying all the happy feelings surrounding them.

It was nice for the brothers to not have to worry about Marines noticing their numbers. It was like they were in a disguise, one that no one would notice unless their wristbands were removed. Even though the threat of marines was still there, they were still relatively safe.

"Why don't we head to the amusement park now for a bit till we have to go back to the ship?" Thatch asked, garnering cheers from Luffy. They were led to the giant park where they stared in amazement at all of the rides and attractions. It wasn't too long after that they were all getting on ride after ride, the sun beginning to set as they did.

"Alright, last one everyone, the Ferris wheel!" Thatch exclaimed, gesturing to the giant wheel. The brothers, who had been smiling happily the entire time, nodded in excitement as they waited in line. The booths had two seats on either side so Ace and Thatch sat on one side while Sabo and Luffy sat on the other. The bubble over the top gave the group a view of the sky while also keeping them from falling out, which was a legitimate worry when Luffy was involved.

"Wow, look, Sabo, we're so high!"

"Ace, look at that! We got your hats there!"

"Hey, I didn't know there was an All You Can Eat place! We should go there!"

All in all, the day had been a good one, probably one of the best days of their lives, save for the day that they escaped the facility.

"Well, I guess its time to head back to the Moby." Thatch said with a yawn after they exited the Ferris wheel. The brothers nodded in agreement, Ace stretching while Sabo and Luffy yawned as well. The walk back was quiet, except for the constant chatter from those around them, still having fun and buying souvenirs.

They had just gotten back to groves 40-49 when Thatch and Luffy both frowned. A slight shiver ran through Luffy, and Ace and Sabo already had an idea as to why. Before they could begin any tapping or questioning though, Thatch pulled them into an alley behind some stalls and shops, hiding them all from view of the street.

"What's happening?" Ace asked in a whisper, peeking out carefully as he asked. Thatch and Sabo peeked out as well, along with Luffy, though he did it much more hesitantly than the other.

'Darkness. Lots and lots of darkness. More then Teach and Haru. Three people.' Luffy tapped out quickly, making Ace and Sabo pale in fear. Thatch, however, didn't notice, instead, he was glaring at the group of people heading their way down the street.

"Celestial Dragons." Thatch spat out, the brothers watching as people began bowing, looking at the ground. The once happy and joyful feelings that had been surrounding Luffy turned to ones of fear and darkness, and Luffy hated every second of it. He only caught a glimpse of the three with the darkness before he had to sit down behind the stall they were hiding behind. He could barely handle this much darkness getting this close.

All three of the people had darkness worse than Teach and Haru combined, and with three people having that much it was a massive cloud heading their way that was starting to suffocate him. There was no warmth coming from Whitebeard to balance the darkness, he didn't even know if Whitebeard could make enough warmth to make a dent in it.

He vaguely felt a hand on his shoulder, could barely register the fact that there was a different feeling other than darkness by him, but the darkness was too strong for him to make out what it could possibly be. The cloud rolled over him now, blanketing him in the slimy, suffocating feeling, making him close his eyes as he attempted to catch his breath. In what seemed like hours the cloud finally rolled passed him and continued on, much to Luffy's relief as he gulped in the clean, fresh air.

"You alright Luffy?" Ace asked beside him, rubbing his back. Luffy nodded, noticing that he had been sweating and trembling.

"Can you walk?" Sabo asked, worry on his face. Luffy honestly didn't know, but the second he tried to stand he fell back down.

"No." His voice was quiet and timid, barely getting the word out. There wasn't a seconds hesitation as Ace hoisted Luffy up onto his back, Sabo helping make sure he was secure before they left the safety of the alley.

"Do you want me to call the nurses?" Thatch asked a bit hesitantly. He knew of the brothers' dislike of nurses, but whatever Luffy had gone through back there looked serious. Sabo roughly shook his head.

"No, he'll be fine, don't worry," Sabo said tensely, still frowning. Thatch felt a bit conflicted, but nodded, deciding it would do more harm to call them right now. He would talk to Pops about it when they got back and see what the Captain thought was best.

"Well... are you feeling better Luffy?" Thatch asked, hoping to see the bright happy teen he had seen all day. Luffy, however, did not look like that now. He looked tired, pale, and sweaty as he clung to Ace.

"Mhmm... Don't worry, 'm fine." Luffy mumbled, not enjoying the worry and nervousness coming from the chef. It was better when he felt happy, warm feelings, not ones that made him want to worry and be nervous too. A hand on his back and pulses of warmth from his brothers calmed him down before any more of the worry from the chef could affect him. Apparently, he was much more susceptible to feeling other peoples feelings when he was this tired. Good to know.

Which reminded him, he never told Ace and Sabo about the fact that he could feel people using haki. Well, that would have to wait.

When they were back at the Moby they avoided questions of whether Luffy was okay or not with answers that he was fine and just tired. When the brothers finally made it to their room Ace deposited Luffy onto their bed while Sabo put the telescope on the desk, along with his and Aces hats.

"What happened back there Lu?" Sabo asked gently as he moved to sit on the bed. Luffy shrugged, curling into a ball on his side, facing the brothers.

"Lots of darkness. I couldn't breathe, and it got dark." Luffy said with a shiver, still feeling a bit icky from how much darkness had passed over him.

"It's over now, that's all that matters. We'll just have to make Celestial Dragons one of the people we stay far away from." Ace said with a sneer as he mentioned the name of those bastards. Sabo and Thatch had briefed him on what a Celestial Dragon was, even going as far as to mention the slaves they kept, and Ace couldn't figure out if he hated them more then the Doctors at the facility or not.

"Thatch is coming," Sabo said, getting up and heading to the door.

"He brought something yummy," Luffy said with a small smile. Sabo chuckled a bit at that, opening the door after the first knock and greeting the chef with a smile.

"Hi, there Thatch, what's up?" Sabo asked casually, finding no need to use politeness when he was still strained from Luffy's panic attack. If that's even what it could be called.

"Well, I- uh, brought this for Luffy. I thought it might help him feel a little better." Thatch said, holding a large glass full of a pink liquid.

"Its a smoothie I made, has lots of fruits and things." Thatch explained a bit quickly as he handed the glass over to Sabo, who took it with a smile.

"Thank you, Thatch, I'm sure he'll love it. Goodnight." Sabo said, Thatch, saying a quick goodnight and calling out a feel better to Luffy as the door shut.

"That was nice of him," Sabo said as he looked at the smoothie, walking over to the bed where Ace helped Luffy sit up.

"Mhmm! I like Thatch, he's a good guy." Luffy said, happily taking the smoothie from Sabo, using the straw to drink it as fast as possible.

"Slow down a little Lu. Is he Marco and Whitebeard good, or just good?" Ace asked as he made Luffy slow down a bit in drinking. The youngest seemed to think about it for a minute, Ace and Sabo waiting patiently for a response.

"Mmm... he keeps promises, and he hid us from the darkness, and he helped us escape, and he makes good food, and his colors still blue, so... I think he's a good guy. Like Marco and Mr. Whitebeard." Luffy determined, returning to sipping his drink happily. Ace and Sabo took in this new information, knowing now that Thatch was someone that they could be around without worry.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys, but I can feel when someone uses Haki!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed as he finished his smoothie.

"Huh?" Ace and Sabo asked, shocked and confused.

"Mhmm! When I got lost and Marco was bringing me back to you, I felt him use his haki so that he could find you!" Luffy explained.

"That's new. Did you ever feel that before?" Sabo asked.

"I don't think so..." Luffy said, trying to remember if he had felt mystery feelings coming from anyone.

"We haven't been around much haki, to begin with though." Ace said with a shrug.

"That's true, we never really needed to use it, huh?" Sabo said as he thought back to their time in the facility. The times they had used it hadn't exactly been good times for Luffy to focus on someone's feelings either.

"Well, its good you figured that out Luffy, it could become helpful later. Why don't we go to bed now though? Its been a long day." Sabo said, taking the empty glass from Luffy and putting it on their desk. His brothers agreed and all of them got comfy.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What happened out there, son?" Whitebeard asked, having seen how Luffy looked when he had come back to the ship, carried by Ace.

"I don't really know Oyaji, one second he was fine, the next he was... I don't know, panicking?" Thatch said, a bit unsure.

"Tell us what was happening before that, yoi," Marco suggested. The Commanders and Captain were sitting in the meeting room, Whiskey as well, as Thatch gave a retelling of whatever had happened on Sabaody.

"Okay, well, we had just finished at the amusement park, the brothers seemed happy and stuff, and since it was getting dark we decided to head back here." Thatch began, trying to remember exactly what had happened.

"And then when we got to the tourist section I noticed that there was a group of Celestial Dragons coming," Thatch continued with a scowl. None of them liked the Dragons, so there was a similar reaction among the Commanders.

"So I took them to a nearby alley so we didn't get spotted by them. One second we're peeking out at them, the next Luffys sitting against the wall and can barely breathe. Ace and Sabo were trying to calm him down, but when it didn't do anything they just went silent and waited. Ace asked who the Dragons were and Sabo and I explained them to him, and once they were gone, Luffy was fine." Thatch finished, still worried for the boy.

"What were his symptoms?" Whiskey asked, thinking maybe if she couldn't see the boys themselves, she could figure out a way to help without having to actually talk to them.

"Symptoms? Well, he was shaking a lot, looked like a couldn't breath, pale, sweating, didn't look like he could hear us either." Thatch said, thinking back to how Luffy had acted. Whiskey frowned as she thought.

"It sounds like he could have had a panic attack. A major one at that." Whiskey said, a bit more to herself than to others.

"A panic attack?" Haruta asked, not having been expecting that answer.

"By the sounds of it, yes." Whiskey affirmed.

"What caused it though? The Celestial Dragons?" Kingdew asked.

"It's possible, however, Ace didn't know who the Dragons were." Whiskey said as they all tried to figure out what had triggered the attack.

"But Sabo knew about them, you said he explained what they were to Ace with you, right?" Fossa asked Thatch who nodded.

"Even if that were the case, wouldn't they all know who they were, not just Sabo and maybe Luffy?" Curiel asked.

"What else could it have been though?" Jozu asked.

"Panic attacks can be triggered by anything. It's possible that it had nothing to do with the Dragons and Luffy simply saw something familiar in the background that caused it. We won't know unless they tell us." Whiskey said with a sigh.

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Izo asked.

"For now, I think we should just give them some space. Thatch brought over a smoothie which should help get something in his stomach at least." Whiskey said with a sigh, none of them liking that they couldn't do anything.

"Why don't we all go get some much-needed rest then? Tomorrow we can keep an eye on the brothers and make sure they're ok." Whitebeard suggested, everyone reluctantly nodding as they began standing and leaving the room.

They would just have to take things one step at a time.


	48. Next Stop, Fishman Island!

The next morning the brothers all woke up feeling well rested, which was a nice change for them. Once they were a bit more awake Luffy started to look around in confusion.

"What's wrong Lu?" Ace asked as he and Sabo put on their new hats.

"Teach is gone," Luffy said in confusion, eyebrows scrunched together.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Ace asked a bit frantically.

"He's not on the ship anymore," Luffy said, head tilted now as he determined this.

"Calm down guys, maybe he's on the island. Besides, its better for us when he's not here." Sabo said with a sigh, understanding why this could worry the two but seeing no use in worrying about it right now.

"And don't forget, we still have to give an answer to Whitebeard on whether were joining or not," Sabo added as they all got ready for the day.

"But we still don't know," Luffy said, knowing that this was going to be a difficult choice for them.

"Exactly, which is why-"

"Tell them about… you know who." Ace said suddenly, shocking both Ace and Luffy.

"But Ace, that's your secret!" Luffy said in a whispered shout, knowing how much that secret meant to his brother.

"Yeah, well it doesn't matter anyway. The marines are already after us so if they find out about it then… whatever." Ace said, trying to play off the seriousness of the situation but knowing he wasn't fooling anyone.

"Ace, hold on, we can think of something else, I told you already, that was a stupid plan I should have never mentioned," Sabo said, trying to deter his brother from giving away something he held so close to him.

"No, you were right before Sabo, there's no way to know how they'll react to the facility without telling them something equally important." Ace said. Sabo's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you so ready to tell them now? Yesterday you were quite adamant we keep that a secret. It wasn't even up for negotiation." Sabo said, crossing his arms accusatorily. Ace frowned, also crossing his arms as he looked away.

"Yeah, well, a lot of stuff happened yesterday. I was just thinking that... maybe these guys can be nice. Thatch kept us hidden from those Dragon people, and he didn't try anything when Luffy had an attack. We've also tested random pirates and they were good too, so maybe these people would be ok to join." Ace said, and it sounded like the words he was saying were extremely reluctant. Sabo and Luffy knew that Ace must have thought a lot about this before bringing it up.

"And you're sure this is what you want to do? Ace, once we tell them, there's no taking it back." Sabo said in worry, not wanting him to make any rash decisions.

"I'm sure Sabo. Like I said, the marines are already after me, so even if they go and rat on me, it won't be much different then it is now." Ace said, once again trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing. Sabo sighed, shaking his head as he noticed this.

"That's not what makes this a big deal and you know it," Sabo said because it was true. Ace could care less if Marines went after him, it was the fact that he would be associated with Roger that made him want to keep it a secret in the first place.

"It doesn't matter," Ace muttered, wanting to be off this subject now. Luffy watched silently, taking in the different emotions coming from his brothers. It had been a long time sense Luffy had felt Ace feel nervous, not because of an outside force, but because of himself. Normally, whenever Ace was nervous it was because of a new test, or because Luffy was in trouble, but not because he was doing something himself to be nervous about.

"If we're doing this, then we need to all be sure about the pirates. There hasn't been any grey?" Sabo asked Luffy, going over the 'Good Person' checklist. Luffy shook his head.

"Nope! Only blue!" Luffy reported happily, all of them ignoring the fact that Teach most definitely was not blue.

"And they did manage to pass all the tests. No one's gotten any weird vibes? Ace, you didn't see anyone doing anything suspicious?" Sabo asked. It was another no from the eldest as he thought back to everything he'd seen aboard the Moby.

"I haven't heard anything either. We can tell Whitebeard and Marco after breakfast if you're sure. If they don't attack us right away then I think we should wait until we've been here a month, to make sure they don't go and tell any marines." Sabo reasoned, Ace and Luffy nodding their agreement to yet another plan. It seemed the whole brothers' lives revolved around planning.

With all of that said and done the brothers headed off to breakfast where everyone was already chowing down. It was relieving for the brothers to not have to worry about Teach in the meanwhile, but also a bit unnerving seeing as they didn't know where he was or when he would pop back up.

The three ate in silence per usual, Sabo listening in on conversations and finding out Marco had begun getting suspicious about the betting going on around Thatch's fishing poles. Haruta seemed more than a bit bummed out that his game was cut off preemptively. When the brothers were finishing Sabo decided now was the time to speak up. Turning to the Captain he put on another polite smile.

"We were wondering if we could talk to you and Marco after you were finished Whitebeard." Sabo requested, some of the Commanders looking a bit shocked or confused, whereas Whitebeard and Marco merely looked to expect this, which they should have.

"Of course," Whitebeard said, the brothers nodding as they began to leave.

They didn't have to wait long, and soon Whitebeard, Marco, and the brothers were once again in the same meeting room as before, sitting in the same spots.

"Have you come to a decision?" Whitebeard asked.

"Not quite. But we did have something we wanted to tell you just so you know a little more about who you'd be taking aboard your crew." Sabo said, his words coming out a bit slow as he waited for Ace to interrupt, should he decide that he'd rather keep his secret. The eldest, however, remained completely silent. His leg was bouncing again in anticipation and his arms were crossed as he stared at the wooden table they were sat at.

"Oh? What is it?" Whitebeard asked. When Ace still didn't say anything to stop the information from coming out, Sabo sighed, ready to tell.

"What would you think if Roger had a son? You know, Gold Roger?" Ace suddenly asked instead, and Sabo had to keep from saying anything. They were, after all, about to tell them that his son was right there. Not seeming to be expecting the question both Marco and Whitebeard raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think it should matter. His son is his own person, and in the end, we're all children of the sea." Whitebeard said casually, shocking the brothers.

Every time Ace had asked that questions he had been met with laughs, people saying his son was a demon and should die like his father had, but no one had ever said that, 'it didn't matter'. Sabo, who had witnessed Ace ask this question a few times and had seen the responses to it, was also amazed by the response. Luffy was making sure to pay attention to the feelings coming from the two pirates, and when no anger or hate came up in response to Aces questions he was surprised as well.

"Why do you ask?" Marco asked, breaking the brothers out of their shock.

"Well, uh," Sabo cleared his throat, again, waiting for Ace to stop him.

"I'm his son." Ace said bitterly, a scowl on his face. The eldest began watching the two carefully, waiting for their response, while Sabo and Luffy tensed, ready to fight for their brother if necessary.

"Gurarara~! Is that all?" Whitebeard asked, only proving to throw the brothers into shock again.

"Is that all?! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm the old Pirate Kings son, you're old _rivals_ son!" Ace explained as if the two pirates didn't know who Gol D. Roger was. Whitebeard, who was still smiling, merely shrugged.

"We may have been rivals, and he may have been the pirate king, but as I said before, you are your own person," Whitebeard repeated, and Luffy could feel that Whitebeard genuinely meant his words, telling his brothers as much. It was quiet now as the brothers got over their shock, but eventually, that silence was broken by Marco.

"That would mean you three aren't blood related then?" Marco asked, picking up on the way Ace had specifically said Roger was his father, neglecting to say he was their father. Besides, Roger was a faithful man, and he hadn't exactly lived long enough to have children as young as Luffy.

"No, we're sworn brothers, we all have different parents," Sabo answered, still a bit shell shocked. Whitebeard and Marco both nodded in understanding.

"Was that all you three wanted to talk about?" Whitebeard asked, the brothers realizing that it was time to end the conversation now.

"Ah, yes, it was. Thank you, Whitebeard, Marco, for taking the time to listen." Sabo thanked as he and his brothers stood.

"It was no problem," Whitebeard said as Ace and Luffy walked out the door. Sabo, though, paused in the doorway, turning around to face the pirates again.

"And about your offer, we'll have an answer by the end of the month," Sabo said as if he had forgotten to mention it before. Whitebeard smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry about it, take all the time you need." The Captain said with a wave. The blonde smiled, nodding to the pirates again, and left, closing the door behind him. Ace and Luffy were waiting for him a few feet away, having noticed that he wasn't following, and Sabo quickly caught up, the three heading back to the deck.

"Well, that went…. Better than expected." Sabo said, still a bit stunned by the results of their confession to Whitebeard. Luffy grinned.

"I told you Mr. Whitebeard and Marco were good people!" Luffy said matter-of-factly.

"We didn't think they weren't, it's just that, even good people can turn bad when they hear certain things," Sabo explained to Luffy who took the information in.

"Oh... well Whitebeard and Marco didn't, so they're the best good people!" Luffy said. Ace rolled his eyes, knocking the boys straw hat off and ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, for now at least. We still have to wait and see if they go and tell on us." Ace said, and even though he said it casually and looked calm, Sabo knew he was probably freaking out about this still. Luffy knew, for a fact, that Ace was freaking out though because he could feel it, the turmoil of feelings, the fear, the worry, the nervousness. The raven tried to block the feelings and instead sidled up to Ace, giving him a hug that stopped both of them from walking.

"It'll be ok Ace, they didn't turn grey and they meant the words they said, _and_ they weren't lying. I don't think they'll tell anyone." Luffy assured confidently. Sabo, who had stopped walking to watch his brothers, smiled, crossing his arms as he looked to Ace expectantly, waiting for his response. The eldest looked a bit flustered like he didn't know how to respond to Luffys comforts, and truth be told, he probably didn't.

"You know we can't hide anything from him. I don't know why you even try." Sabo said with a shake of his head. Ace regained his composure, sending Sabo a defiant glare, though there was no heat behind it.

"Yeah, whatever. Thanks, Luffy, I feel better now." Ace said a bit reluctantly, hugging the youngest back for a second. Luffy released his hold, beaming at Ace as he felt all the bad feelings melt away, replaced with the warmth and love that Luffy was used to.

"Good! I don't like it when Ace or Sabo feel bad feelings!" Luffy said, grin remaining as he began leading the way, leaving his two slightly dumbfounded brothers behind. They caught up quickly though and the three reached the door that led to the deck. Opening it Sabo took note of everyone in their vicinity, noticing that Whitebeard and Marco were finally leaving the meeting room, having been talking by themselves after the brothers left.

"Hey you guys, how was your chat with Pops and Marco?" Thatch asked from where he was standing near the door. Sabo put on a smile as he addressed the chef.

"It went very well," Sabo said truthfully. Thatch grinned wider at those words.

"Well, that's good to hear! Hey, do you three want to head back out to the island today? It's our last day on Sabaody seeing as the Moby's almost fully coated now." Thatch explained. Sabo didn't even have to look at his brothers or wait for their input to know they wouldn't be going onto the island again anytime soon.

"No, I think we're just going to stay here for the day. If you wouldn't mind though, could you explain what coating is? You mentioned it before." Sabo said, having been curious since Thatch first brought it up in the infirmary when Ace was injured.

"Oh, yeah! The only way to get to Fishman Island is to sink to the bottom of the ocean, and the only way to do that is to get a coating on your ship! It's like a big bubble that surrounds the ship so that we can breathe and allows the ship to sink." Thatch explained to the best of his ability. Luffy looked amazed while Sabo looked thoughtful and Ace looked a bit unsure.

"That's interesting. I would have never thought something like that was possible. When are we leaving for Fishman Island?" Sabo asked, noticing that Teach still wasn't anywhere near, from what he could hear.

"I think we're leaving close to dinner. Rayleigh, our ship coater, has been working pretty hard to get us ready as fast as possible." Thatch said, glancing around for who Sabo assumed to be Rayleigh.

"Is there a reason you're rushing?" Ace asked. After yesterday he was a bit more comfortable around Thatch and deemed the man worthy of conversation.

"Not really, but there have been a few rookies who thought they were big shots that have been messing around, and seeing as Fishman Island is under Pops' protection we have to go stop them before they do anything too stupid." Thatch said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Anyways, since you three are staying on the ship today, why don't we do some fishing? I've been meaning to lately but I've been a bit busy, what with the lack of chefs to help me in the kitchen with that sickness." Thatch said, reminding the three that Thatch had been working pretty hard lately because most of the chefs had been out of commission.

"Are the chefs better?" Luffy questioned, a bit concerned for them. Sabo and Ace didn't know if he was more worried about the people themselves, or the food that they couldn't make.

"They are, and to top it off, the rest of my division came back from their mission, so we've got more hands than usual!" Thatch said happily, that happiness rubbing off on Luffy who suddenly became jittery with the good feeling.

"Come on Ace, come on Sabo, let's go fishing with Thatch!" Luffy said, practically bouncing where he stood as he grabbed his brothers hands. The brothers recognized the sudden spike in Luffy's energy to possibly be from the chefs' good feelings rubbing off on the youngest, but it wasn't doing him any harm so they decided to let it slide.

"Sure, it sounds fun," Sabo said with a smile.

"Yeah, why not, I needed something to do anyway." Ace said with a shrug, though he was smiling as well.

"Alright, let's go! Hey, did you know that H- Ruta was keeping me from putting away my fishing pole for almost a month?! That guy, I swear, he nearly made Marco kill me!" The brothers suppressed their laughter, Sabo putting on his best, 'Really? I can't believe that!' face as he began sympathizing with the chef.

The day passed by slowly, the three brothers fishing with Thatch until the chef had to go make lunch. When lunch came and passed and they realized Teach still wasn't back at the Moby the three became disconcerted, and Luffy took it upon himself to go ask the Captain where the man was, walking up to his chair after lunch and doing the same thing he had done when he warned the Captain of the man. He walked up to his leg where Whitebeard brought a hand down, lifting Luffy up to his ear where the boy whispered quietly to him.

"Wheres Teach?" He asked, wanting to know for everyone's safety. Whitebeard pulled the boy away, a serious expression on his face.

"He's been sent on a mission. We have someone watching him." Whitebeard said in a tone that told the brothers he was taking their warning to heart, something that relieved them to know. Luffy had nodded, a bit happy that they wouldn't be near the man for a bit, but a little unnerved that he had no idea what he was up to.

After that the three had lounged around, not wanting to risk going on the island and running into a Celestial Dragon, but not having anything better to do. Most of the pirates were off enjoying themselves on the island, only a few lingering behind, namely the Captain and a handful of Commanders. Atmos, Kingdew, Jiru, Blenheim, Vista, Fossa, Curiel, and Rakuyo were off on the island while Izo, Namur, Thatch, Marco, Haruta, and Jozu were on the ship.

After cloud gazing had gotten boring the brothers were left with nothing to do until Thatch sauntered up to them, smile plastered on his face as he did.

"Time for some fun!" He exclaimed with a clap of his hands. Sabo and Ace raised an eyebrow while Luffy became excited, ready to do anything other then what he was doing.

"And what exactly does that entail?" Sabo asked, not quite sure what to expect from the chef. Thatch made a tsking noise, wagging his finger in a 'no' motion.

"No, no, we don't want to ruin the surprise, after all, that's half the fun!" Thatch said happily, still smiling as he gestured for the brothers to follow him. A bit unsure and plenty skeptical, Ace and Sabo looked to Luffy for reassurance, to which the youngest nodded, stating there were no bad feelings from Thatch. So, with that, the three began to follow Thatch, curious as to what his surprise was.

They ended up following him into the galley, and then into the kitchen which the brothers had never been in before. They followed him until they reached a station in the corner where Thatch pulled up some stools to the giant counter for the brothers to sit at while he moved to one of the many fridges to get something. They all watched curiously as he began pulling out random things, from eggs and milk to flour and sugar, but having no clue what he was up to.

"All set!" Thatch said finally, hands on his hips and smile on his lips as he stood proudly behind the mountain of ingredients on the table.

"Uh, what exactly is it?" Sabo asked for all of them, noticing that even Luffy looked confused now. Thatch's smile never faltered though as he began explaining.

"Well, you three like to eat and it's been a while since we've had some sweets onboard, so I've decided that tonight we can have some desserts after dinner and I wanted you three to help! Its a lot better than doing nothing after all!" Thatch said as he rolled up his sleeves in preparation. Ace and Sabo looked at each other, shrugging, while Luffy merely smiled, only really understanding that food was involved.

"Alright, we'll help." Ace said as he turned back to face Thatch who cheered happily.

"Yes! First step, washing our hands!"

And so the brothers helped Thatch make a variety of desserts. Ace was in charge of a wide array of cookies, from peanut butter to chocolate chip, to regular sugar cookies. Sabo was making cakes, chocolate, vanilla, three-tiered, two-tiered, and even a few dozen cupcakes as well. Luffy, on the other hand, was a bit of a different story. His brothers knew that letting Luffy near food preparation was a bad idea in itself, but Thatch had seemed to find a way to divert the youngest from eating all the unbaked goodies by providing him with breads and dips to eat as he helped Thatch make puddings, pies, and even some homemade ice cream. Ace and Sabo had to admit, they were amazed to see the youngest following directions so well, the boy completely focused on mixing fillings without losing a single drop.

"Good job Luffy! Now, why don't you pour that into the pie while I go put these puddings in the fridge?" Thatch said as he picked up trays with pudding in cups on it. Luffy nodded happily as the chef left and Sabo watched the straw-hatted teen carefully pour the filling into the pie tin.

"Did you see that Sabo, I did it!" Luffy exclaimed happily as he quickly chowed down on another few pieces of bread. Sabo smiled, setting down the bowl of frosting he had just mixed up.

"I did, good job Lu, it looks good so far," Sabo said, meaning it too. It made Luffy beam in delight as Thatch walked back, explaining that they were going to cover the pie in more crust while Sabo turned his attention to Ace, who was also surprisingly following directions pretty well. The oldest had his own bowl of breads and dips to munch on as he mixed batters and put cookie dough on trays to bake.

The group continued on in their baking, and soon it was already time for dinner to start cooking, the other chefs coming into the kitchen and cooking in their own sections of the giant kitchen. As they finished up their baking the chefs were announcing that they were done making the food, Thatch saying that they could start serving now while the brothers washed up.

"Thank you guys for helping, I don't know if I could have gotten that all done on my own!" Thatch admitted as he dried his hands off.

"It was no problem," Sabo said as he dried his own hands off, ignoring the fact that Ace and Luffy were in a bit of a splashing war with each other.

"Yeah, I had lots of fun!" Luffy said, stopping the war for a split second to direct his attention to the chef.

"Me too." Ace said quickly before flicking more water towards Luffy who retaliated with his own flick of water, which was more of him throwing a handful of water towards the eldest. Sabo sighed, shaking his head and pinching his nose at his brothers' antics while Thatch merely began laughing.

"Come on you two, if you don't stop now all the food'll be gone," Sabo said sternly, even though he knew that wasn't true. The more they got to know Thatch the more comfortable they became around him, and if past experience was anything to go on, the man would save them something regardless of how long they took. The man looked like he wanted to voice this, but before he could Ace and Luffy looked at Sabo with wide eyes.

"Luffy, move, I gotta finish washing my hands!"

"No, you move, I was washing mine first, I don't wanna miss the meat!"

"I'm older, so I should get to go first!"

"Nuh-uh! Just cause you're older doesn't mean anything, I'm gonna wash mine first!"

"No you're not, I am!"

"No-"

Sabo could only pinch his nose harder in exasperation.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"That was delicious." Ace said happily as he patted his stomach, the three brothers walking out on the deck.

"It was. I can't believe it's been so long since I've had a cookie." Sabo said, trying to remember the last time he'd had one.

"Yeah, Makino made the best cookies!" Luffy reminisced happily, eyes going a bit distant as he remembered everyone back on Dawn Island.

"Everything ready?!"

"Yeah, all set Captain?!"

"Go ahead."

"Alright then, inflate it!"

"What's going on?" Ace asked in a mumble, his brothers shrugging in response, just as confused as him. They watched curiously as suddenly a giant bubble began inflating around the ship, encasing them all safely within it.

"Woah! Sugoi~!" Luffy said in awe as he watched the bubble inflate until it was over the entire ship.

"We're heading down to Fishman Island now, yoi. We should be there after lunch tomorrow." Marco said as he walked up to the awestruck brothers.

"So it really is at the bottom of the sea? Thatch mentioned it earlier but I didn't really think there was an island at the bottom of the ocean." Sabo said as he watched the crew getting ready to do something else.

"Sure is. Say goodbye to the sky cause all we're gonna see down there is water for a while." Izo said as he walked up as well, watching his crew mates hurry around the deck.

"We're good here!"

"Here too!"

"Looks like we're about to descend," Marco said, crossing his arms over his chest. And he was right. After he said that, the ship began to sink, but no water came through the bubble, everyone safe inside of it.

"Woah! Sabo, Ace, look, we're going underwater!" Luffy said as he rushed over to the railing to look. His brothers followed, both equally amazed as they watched the water slowly cover them completely until they were fully submerged, fish swimming peacefully around them and roots tangling downward from the Mangrove trees.

The brothers remained at the railing in amazement for a good hour after that before Luffy began to yawn and they decided they should probably get some sleep. They said goodnight to Marco and Izo as they left the deck, heading for their room.

Today had been one of their good days, especially seeing as Teach was no longer around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> I know that a ship of the Moby's size would probably take much longer than a day to coat, but, one, this is a fanfiction, and two, they have Rayleigh coating their ship so I feel like he'd be able to get a rush order done. And no, the brothers didn't meet Rayleigh, which I know a few of you were hoping they would, but it didn't feel like the right time for them to meet, if that makes any sense at all. I'm still debating with when I want them to meet him, so I cant say for sure when it will happen, but it is something I'm thinking a lot about.
> 
> Finally, to the Guest that reviewed and asked whether it will be revealed later as to why the facility was created; Yes, it will, but that won't be for a while yet as well. Also, your English is fantastic!


	49. The Hard Shell Tower

It was a challenge to get Luffy to eat for the first time ever. The boy was so excited to go out on the deck and watch for Fishman Island that getting him to sit in the galley and eat lunch was harder then it should have been. The young teen kept trying to fill his mouth and run, but Sabo and Ace had learned by now and were holding a leg down each to keep him from bolting away without them.

It wasn't that Luffy didn't want to eat, because the day that happened the brothers would panic. It was more that Luffy was so excited about the new island that it was distracting him until he remembered that there was food.

Needless to say, lunch went by much faster than usual despite these difficulties. With Luffy scarfing food down faster than ever the three were done pretty quickly, Ace and Sabo eating to match his pace so they could keep the youngest from finishing before them and having nothing to do. Besides, if he did finish before them, it would be much harder to keep him in the galley while they finished. When they were all done eating Luffy practically jumped out of his seat, grabbing his brothers' hands.

"Come on, I wanna go look for the new island!" Luffy said excitedly as he pulled his brothers out of the galley and along the deck to the rails. The crew around them all smiled at Luffys eagerness, watching as he leaned over the rail to look through the tough bubble.

"Look at that! Oh! And that! And look over there, it's a turtle!" Some chuckled at his enthusiasm as they did their chores or walked passed, enjoying how happy Luffy looked to just see some fish up close.

"Ace, do you see the island yet?!" Luffy asked as he tried peering through the darkness for any signs of it.

"How would I be able to see anything down here?" Ace asked, only for show because, really, he could see it, and it was an amazing sight.

'Yeah, I see it, it's inside in a bubble, which is inside another bubble. Also, it's weirdly light in there, and I'm pretty sure I'm seeing a sky and clouds even though we're pretty deep in the water.' Ace tapped as he scanned what he knew to be Fishman Island.

'So that's what that weird light is.' Sabo mused, seeing a dim light in the middle of all the darkness surrounding them. It was still pretty far away, but they would be there in about a half hour to an hour judging by how far away it was.

'How can there be sky and clouds underwater?' Luffy asked, though his excitement was only growing at the thought.

'Who knows. I don't even know if I'm seeing that right.' Ace replied as he tried squinting, wondering what could possibly look so similar to sky and clouds without actually being sky and clouds.

'We'll just have to wait to find out.' Sabo said as he leaned on the railing, having a feeling that Luffy wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

He was right. The half-hour it took for them to get to Fishman Island Luffy stood raptly at the railing, switching between talking silently to his brothers about all the cool stuff they would see and talking out loud to the occasional Commander that would come by.

Ace, in the meanwhile, took the time to think back to everything that had happened to them recently.

First, the Whitebeard Pirates saved them from the facility, where they had previously been trapped for seven whole years of their lives. Then, they were accepted onboard this ship, no questions asked, and that was still something he was trying to get used to. He was just waiting for someone to get fed up and demand to know what had happened in the facility, but again, that had yet to happen. Then, the brothers were asked to join the crew, actually join, and that was an even bigger shocker then everything else. It's one thing to accept some kids traveling onboard for a while, but to actually want them to stay? Permanently? It was mind-boggling to him.

And then there was the biggest shock of all. His parentage. Of all the possibilities that came with telling people who his parents were, Whitebeards and Marcos were nowhere near close to the top of the list. In fact, they were probably as close to the bottom as they could be.

They just accepted him. His parents. Gol D. Roger was his father, and all they had to say about it was that it didn't matter, which was one of the biggest lies he'd ever heard. Of course it mattered, it mattered to the entire world, to the marines, to Rogers enemies. He was the devil's son, someone everyone thought should have died the second he was born, regardless of the fact that he was just an innocent child. In the eyes of the world, just having the man's blood was a crime worthy of death, and yet Whitebeard and Marco had no problems with the information at all. They had accepted it as easily as they accepted the brothers onboard their ship.

For there to be no fuss about his parents, for the pirates to just accept him, he couldn't understand it.

However, he was forced to stop thinking about all of this when Luffy began tugging on his hand, happily exclaiming that they were almost there. He would just have to worry about all of this later.

As they arrived they saw the entrance to Fishman Island open, Sabo hearing guards inside announcing that Whitebeard was arriving as they did. The ship coasted in easily and soon the brothers were staring in awe again as they looked up at the clouds, the sky, the Fishmen/women and mermaids/men.

"So there was clouds and a sky." Ace muttered quietly as he looked up, pleased to know that his enhanced eyesight wasn't playing tricks on him. The crew around them immediately got to work on docking the ship and within minutes they were getting ready to disembark.

"Marco, Thatch, when you take the boys can you go look for Jinbe? I'll need to speak to him about everything that's happened since we've last been here." Whitebeard said as he addressed the different duties of all the crew members. The two Commanders nodded and when everyone was ready they headed to the brothers.

"Alright you three, you ready?" Thatch asked with a smile. Double checking that they were all wearing their wristbands Sabo nodded. Even if this was a Whitebeard protected island, they still didn't want to take any chances.

"Then let's go, yoi," Marco said as he led the way off the ship. Luffy could barely contain himself as he skipped alongside his brothers, the older two holding his hands so he couldn't run off alone. As they walked everyone they passed gave them smiles once they saw they were with the Whitebeards, and many began whispering happily to each other, Sabo picking up that they were excited to see the pirates again.

"Ne, Marco, where do you think Jinbe is?" Thatch asked from where he stood at the front of the group beside Marco.

"I don't think we need to worry too much, yoi. He'll probably find us. For now, why don't we take the brothers to the shopping section?" Marco asked, turning to get the brothers' opinions.

"Yeah! Come on Ace, Sabo, let's go shopping!" Luffy cheered happily. The two saw no reason why they shouldn't so they nodded as well, and once again followed Marco and Thatch to the many shops set up in town. Of course, one of these shops had the words, 'John's Candy Shop' printed clearly on it and that enticed Luffy immediately.

"Candy?! Ace, Sabo, let's go get some candy!" Luffy said, pulling his brothers toward the shop, Marco and Thatch following with bemused expressions on their faces.

"We can get some candy, Luffy, but not a lot. Too much sugar isn't good for you." Sabo compromised, knowing that the boy had a tendency to go overboard, and he did not want to see what Luffy was like with that much sugar in him.

After being dragged into the store and fighting to keep Luffy from eating everything, the group left with a good sized bag of candy, Luffy attempting to swipe something from it every few seconds.

"You know, I don't blame him for being eager. The candy they make here is supposedly some of the best in the world." Thatch commented as he watched Ace raise the bag just out of reach of Luffys grabby hands.

"That may be the case, but I think its best for us all if we limit Luffys intake," Sabo said with a smile as he allowed Luffy to have one of the taffy's from the bag. As they browsed through different stores another thing that caught Luffys eye was the bubbly coral.

"Look Sabo, look Ace, it makes bubbles!" Luffy said as he tested one of the corals they had on display.

"It's for humans, so they can be mobile in water and still breathe if they need to, yoi," Marco explained, pulling out one of his own bubbly corals that he had brought along.

"Really?! That's so cool! We have to get one!" Luffy said, already grabbing some off the shelves for him and his brothers.

This was mostly how the rest of the shopping trip went. Luffy would read a sign, and Sabo would curse himself forever teaching the glutton how to read. Every time they would go in Luffy would manage to somehow rope Ace and Sabo into yet another purchase. This probably would have continued for the rest of the day had they not been interrupted.

"Thatch, Marco, its good to see you two again." A voice spoke up, drawing everyone's attention toward it.

"Ah, Jinbe! So you did find us after all!" Thatch said with a smile as he greeted the blue Fishman. The brothers watched the newcomer skeptically for a moment while Luffy got a read of the man's aura and feelings.

"I did. I heard Oyaji docked not too long ago and thought I would try to come find you guys. I had a feeling you would be closer to the boat or restocking near the docking section. What brings you to the tourist section?" Jinbe asked with a raised eyebrow.

'What's he look like Lu?' Ace asked, knowing that any second this Jinbe persons attention would be on them.

'Blue. No bad feelings.' Luffy determined after a second, blinking as he turned his attention to the eldest.

"That would be because of these three, yoi," Marco said as he gestured to the brothers. Sabo and Luffy gave Jinbe smiles, Sabo deciding he would be polite, yet cautious around the man. Meanwhile, Ace was giving the Fishman a calculating look, arms crossed as he decided if it was ok to be near this guy.

"Oyajis recruiting youngsters now?" Jinbe asked curiously as he looked over the teens. Luffy pouted now but didn't sense maliciousness in the words.

"Not exactly. These three are a special case. Maybe we'll tell you about it later." Thatch said with a nonchalant shrug which Jinbe seemed to expect.

"Hi, I'm Sabo, and these are my brothers. Luffys the youngest and Ace is the oldest." Sabo introduced politely, seeing that now was a good time to do it.

"It's nice to meet you three, I'm Jinbe." Jinbe greeted just as politely, and Luffy decided he liked the Fishman. He could feel the loyalty in him, and that was a good feeling.

"Oyaji wanted to talk to you about a report when you've got the time, yoi," Marco said after introductions were over.

"I know, I met up with him at the Moby when I was looking for you. Which reminds me, I was recently at the Ryugu Palace and Neptune wanted to greet you personally. He'd like for you to come see him." Jinbe said as he looked up. The brothers followed his gaze, Sabo and Luffy just making out something in the distance, but Ace could see that it was a weird blockade like the entrance that led to another bubble above it. Inside that bubble was a regal looking palace that Ace assumed to be the Ryugu Palace. He relayed all of this information to his brothers.

"Really? I wouldn't mind seeing the big guy again. Last time we went they made some pretty good food." Thatch said with a smile as he thought about the feast that had been prepared.

"As long as he wouldn't mind the brothers coming along with us, yoi," Marco said, bringing everyone's attention back to the fact that the two Commanders were accompanying the three.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all. Neptune's pretty understanding." Jinbe said coolly.

"Ah, that's not necessary. We can go back to the Moby if it'll be too much trouble." Sabo said with a smile, waving his hands. After all, the brothers didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to royalty and nobles. Jinbe raised a hand of his own.

"Nonsense, the more the merrier. Come, I'm sure they've already started cooking the feast." Jinbe said as he turned, whistling for something. Out of nowhere, a giant fish came down, a bubble around its midsection as it lowered just enough for the group to board the seating on its back. The brothers were a bit wary, but Thatch and Marco seemed to trust this guy, and Luffy had said he was good colors. Not to mention, there was gonna be a feast and they would be able to ride on the back of this giant fish.

'Let's be cautious.' Ace tapped as he began to follow Marco and Thatch onto the back of the fish. Sabo and Luffy nodded minutely as they followed as well, all of them inwardly excited about what was to come, yet nervous for what could happen. After they were all on the fish they began ascending up to the entrance Ace had seen. On their way up Marco and Thatch both got out their bubbly coral, explaining to the brothers that the palace was full of water. Hearing this Sabo took out their own bubbly coral, surrounding the three of them in their own bubble. When the fish reached the top of the bubble Jinbe used a den den to call the guards inside the palace, telling them that they were there.

The entrance opened, a stream of water rushing down to the now open entrance, and the fish quickly swam in, taking them up to another bubble containing the Ryugu Palace.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Luffy said in amazement as he peered around them. Once they were out of the stream and in front of the palace Luffy lit up, eyes sparkling at the immaculately decorated building.

"Sugoi~!" Luffy cried as he took it all in. Sabo sat in a similar state of awe while Ace tried his best to look unsurprised. After all, he had seen it from below, what's so special about seeing it up close? Despite this thought though, Aces eyes couldn't help but roam over the detailed statues and structures. The doors to the palace opened and Jinbe got off the fish, the rest of them following him as he walked in.

"What have I said about trying to do strenuous work?! You have to be more responsible, you know it'll strain your back!"

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"And not to mention, you're always sneaking off alone, do you know how dangerous that is?!"

"I'm sorry, jamon."

"And another thing-!"

"Minister of the Left, Minister of the Right, King Neptune, I've returned with the Whitebeard pirates and their guests," Jinbe said with a smile, interrupting the scolding coming from the group. The three turned to face them, a look of surprise on their faces.

"Ah, Marco, Thatch, its good to see you two again! How's Whitebeard, jamon?" The giant merman asked as he swam forward to them.

"He's well, yoi. How about yourself?" Marco asked politely, the man smiling pleasantly.

"Just fine. Ah, who are your guests?" He asked as he looked over to the brothers who tensed up a bit. This was clearly the king, or at least some sort of royalty if the giant crown was anything to go on.

"This is Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. They're brothers who're staying on the Moby for a while... well, indefinitely really." Thatch said with a grin. The giant raised an eyebrow but smiled regardless.

"Oh? That's interesting. It's nice to meet you boys, jamon. I'm Neptune, King of the Ryugu Kingdom." Neptune greeted cheerfully. Sabo smiled and bowed, Luffy mimicking him and Ace begrudgingly doing so as well.

"The pleasure is all ours, your majesty," Sabo said in as polite a tone he could manage, using his noble upbringing to his advantage, even if it did make his stomach churn in disgust at the thought of memories from so long ago.

"Please, just Neptune is fine," Neptune said with a laugh as the three rose once more. Luffy did what he does best, scanning everyone as quick as he could as he rose, eyes jumping from one guard to the next until they finally landed on the blue aura of the king.

'Good people.' Luffy told his brothers.

"Well, the feast should be ready soon, jamon. In the meanwhile, why don't I catch you up on everything that's been happening here on the island since you're last visit?" Neptune asked, the two Commanders nodding in interest. Sabo began to pay close attention to the conversation, wanting to know as much about the people on Fishman island as possible in case there was anyone they should actively try to stay away from.

Meanwhile, Luffy was beginning to get bored. Ace was paying close attention to the people around them in case anyone did anything to endanger them, but that left Luffy with nothing to do. He had already checked everyone's auras, and after checking the mass pool of feelings in the room he found none of them to be malicious. With nothing to do Luffy began to get a bit antsy. He knew better than to do anything to attract unwanted attention, but when a suddenly delicious smell wafted to his enhanced senses his mouth began to water.

The giant king guy had said that there was going to be a feast. Would he be mad if Luffy just so happened to show up to the feast a bit earlier than the others? Shifting his weight between either foot Luffy began having a war in his head.

On one hand, Luffy was starving, even if he had been snacking on delicious food in the town before this. On the other, he didn't want to get in trouble for doing something wrong. But the food smelled so good, it was practically calling to him!

Luffy hadn't even come to a decision when his feet seemed to move on their own toward the smell of food that invaded his senses. Ace was quick to notice the moving boy and grabbed his hand, following after him as he used their silent language to get Sabo's attention.

'Luffy, where are you going?!' Sabo asked as he glanced from the conversation that the adults were having, and then to Luffy who was nearly out of the entrance hall entirely, Ace following close behind.

'There's food this way!' Luffy replied absentmindedly, Sabo slinking off after his brother, being careful not to be spotted by anyone.

'Luffy, we can't just wander off, someones gonna notice.' Ace said with a frown as he looked back to the room they had just left, seeing that, so far, no one had noticed their departure.

'But it smells so good! They said there was gonna be a feast right?' Luffy asked as they walked further down the unknown hallways.

'Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can just go there! Besides, it would be a little weird if they found us in the dining hall without knowing how to get there in the first place." Sabo replied with worry, wanting to get back to Thatch and Marco before they inevitably noticed the brothers' disappearance.

'Come on now Luffy, let's go back.' Ace said as he stopped walking, tugging on Luffy's hand to get the boy to go back with him. Despite his want for food, Luffy knew better than to argue with Ace, especially when it came to their safety. With a pout, Luffy nodded, turning to follow his older brothers back to the entrance, but they hadn't even made two steps in that direction when Sabo froze, turning to look back where they had been going.

"Sabo? What's wrong?" Ace asked in a whisper as he looked back down the hall as well. A little further down the way, he could see a weird divide where it looked like the water ended and it was air instead, but it made it hard to see what was passed the divide, the water distorting everything. He could see that there was someone down there, and he could see that they were pushing something, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was with all the blur.

"I hear... its a rolling cart, like back at the facility," Sabo said in a hushed, almost choked voice as flashbacks no doubt ran through his head at lightning speed because of the familiar sound.

"But... they are making a feast, so maybe it's for... moving food?" Ace asked, wondering why the sound would make Sabo so nervous all of a sudden. They'd heard a similar sounding cart on the Moby before, and though Sabo had been a bit disoriented by it before, he had never looked this scared over it.

"It's not just that, but I can hear crying coming from over there too," Sabo said, paler then he had been a moment ago. Ace frowned at this and Luffy began looking around nervously.

"Should we check it out?" Ace asked a bit hesitantly, not knowing what to do with the information.

"I don't know... what are the chances of a facility being in a place like this? Is there even more than one facility?" Sabo questioned nervously, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to either question. After all, the thought of more than one facility existing in the world was a terrifying thought. Their facility had been on an island where the villagers knew and allowed it, so it wouldn't be too far fetched to think that a whole Kingdom could know and hide a facility as well.

But that would mean that the Whitebeard pirates knew about this facility too. If that was the case then... that meant there was a possibility that they were here to take the brothers to another facility.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked, a look of nervousness on his face, and Sabo had no doubt that his little brother had been picking up on his emotions, influencing his own as a result.

"What's wrong Sabo?" Ace asked, just as nervous, knowing that whatever Sabo thought up, it wasn't good.

"Hopefully nothing. Maybe we should go check it out, after all, if it is a facility, that means we should leave. Now." Sabo said a bit quickly. None of them wanted to check it out, but all of them knew that Sabo was right. So, with a lot of reluctance, the three began heading back towards where Luffy had been smelling the food, more on guard than ever before.

The walk felt like an eternity, but soon enough they were walking out of the water and into the air, their bubbles disappearing as they did. Up ahead, Ace could see a giant rolling cart, whatever having been on it gone now as a giant Fishman pushed it towards them. The brothers managed to walk around the cart at just the right angle, the guard not noticing their presence in the slightest as they did. Continuing on down the hall they saw a giant pair of doors, shut and locked with dent marks on it.

"The cryings coming from in there," Sabo said hesitantly as they looked up at the massive entrance.

"The food smell too," Luffy whispered, tilting his head as he wondered how they would get in. Looking around quickly Sabo turned to Ace.

"Is anyone around? Any surveillance snails?" Sabo asked. Ace raised an eyebrow at the question but looked around regardless. Not seeing anything he turned back to Sabo, shaking his head.

"No, nothing, why?" Ace asked. Sabo turned to look back at the door, frowning.

"Luffy, do you think you could stretch your arm up there and pull the door open?" Sabo asked, his brothers now understanding the need for caution. Luffy looked at how far away the handle was, calculating quickly in his head if he could reach it or not.

"Yeah, I think so," Luffy said, stepping back a few steps and winding his arm up to stretch. He hadn't been able to stretch it too far lately, only a few inches when they were alone in their room, so it would be nice to finally use his powers like this. Ace was keeping a close eye for anything that might see them while Sabo listened for anyone who might be coming.

Winding back Luffy swung his arm, extending it all the way to the handle and grabbing it successfully. The giant door was sturdy, and because of that, and its size, it was also heavy. It wasn't too much of a challenge, but it still took a bit of struggle for Luffy to pull open the door a few inches so that he and his brothers would be able to fit inside.

"Good job, Lu," Sabo whispered as he and his brothers inched nervously to the crack in the door. The room inside was dark, but Ace was able to easily see that it looked nothing like how their facility had looked. It looked more like a... bedroom?

"What's inside Ace?" Sabo asked as he and Luffy peered uselessly inside, unable to see anything.

"I think its a bedroom. There's a bed over there and a dresser and stuff. It's all pretty big though, like that King Neptune guy big." Ace said as he took a step into the room, his brothers following while holding onto his shirt for guidance.

"Maybe its a decoy, like how they pretended we were apart of a mental hospital." Sabo mused while Ace began looking for anything like a door that would lead to an actual facility. A soft cry, though, caught all their attention as they spun to face the owner of the noise.

"Is there a person in here?" Luffy asked quietly.

"I don't know, I don't see anyone but I can't see on the bed, its too high up." Ace whispered back, thinking that maybe they should start communicating silently to each other now that there was possibly a person in here with them.

'I can feel a presence in front of us, and I think breathing too. Is that where the bed is?' Sabo asked as he used his haki and enhanced hearing, seeming to think the same thing as Ace as he switched to tapping rather than speaking. Ace reached out with his own haki, and even though he wasn't that good at observation haki he was still able to pick up the presence of someone in front of them like Sabo had.

'Yeah, maybe someones on it. Should we climb up and check it out?' Ace asked, wanting the confirmation before he led his brothers towards a potential danger that they couldn't even see. Sabo hesitated, still not sure how they should proceed, but knowing that they were already too far into this.

'Why don't you go check it out? Luffy and I can stay here seeing as we can't even see anything to begin with.' Sabo said a bit reluctantly. Ace nodded, though no one saw it, and began moving away from his brothers, Sabo dropping his grip of his shirt, but Luffy didn't, instead tugging on it a bit, making Ace turn to him in question.

'Be careful Ace.' Luffy said, a frown present on his face and a look of worry to go with it. The eldest smiled, knocking Luffy's straw hat off and ruffling his hair.

'Always am, Lu.' Ace replied. This got the youngest to release his grip as well, grabbing out for Sabo's hand, which he found, while Ace turned back to the bed, grabbing the blanket hanging off of it and tugging it to make sure it wouldn't fall with his weight. Finding that it was sturdy enough for him to climb on he began ascending up the side of the bed, quiet rustles being the only indicator for Sabo and Luffy that Ace was still moving.

When it grew quiet they assumed that Ace had reached the top and Sabo kept his ears trained for any noise he could pick up. He could still hear the faint sounds of what could be breathing, and now he swore that was a muffled step from Ace.

'I think someones under the covers. They're huge too, just like the King.' Ace confirmed, Sabo, picking up the tapping even from where he stood. He relayed the information to Luffy, the boy shifting his weight nervously.

'Let me get a bit closer... yeah, its a person, I think they're asleep, maybe they weren't the ones crying earlier?' Ace questioned. A sudden bang on the door made them all jump and spin to face it, but there was no one there.

'What was that?' Luffy asked as he looked at the door with wide eyes, trying to calm down.

'Crap, I think they're waking up, I'm coming back down!' Ace tapped a bit frantically, and Sabo could hear the frantic rustling as Ace quickly maneuvered his way down the blanket and back onto the solid ground. He had only just managed to touch the floor when a light suddenly flickered on.

"H-hello? Is someone there?" The high pitched feminine voice sounded shaky and nervous, but loud all the same. Sabo tightened his hold on Luffys hand and pulled him over to Ace, pushing them all under the bed out of sight.

"Megalo, do you see anyone?" This confused the brothers because they hadn't seen anyone else in the room. Reaching out with their haki they noticed another presence, but this one was a bit different from the person on the bed, more animal-like.

There wasn't much time to linger on that thought because suddenly the edge of the blanket behind them began moving, and a snout poked its way under. They didn't have a chance to find another hiding spot before a sharks face was staring right at them. Immediately, the shark began growling at them, shimmying under the bed and forcing the brothers to leave the cover.

"What is it? Oh-! Who are you?" The three turned to look at the fearful mermaid sitting on the bed. She had her hands to her mouth and her eyes were wide, already beginning to water with unshed tears.

"Y-you're here to kill me aren't you? We-well, I w-wont let you! I'm n-not scared!" The giant mermaid said, voice timid compared to her words. The shark was still growling at them, even snapping a few times in warning. The brothers were at a loss in terms of what they should do. The didn't want to draw any attention to themselves, but they were in a bit of a pickle now seeing as they'd been caught. They still had no idea what was happening and were even more confused by why this girl thought they were going to kill them, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Ah, no, that's not why we're here," Sabo said, raising his hands in a peaceful manner.

"I-I won't be fooled! I'm Neptune's daughter, so I-I'm not scared!" The mermaid cried, and now the brothers knew that this was a princess they were dealing with, not a kid locked in another facility.

"I'm not scared, I-I'm not..." Tears started falling, making loud splashing noises as they did, and the brothers winced as she began wailing loudly.

"Father-sama, brother-sama!" She cried, bringing her hands to her eyes as tears feel faster.

"Oh great, that's not good." Ace muttered with a frown, anxiety beginning to take form as he realized that somebody would surely come now that the princess was sobbing.

"Really, we're not here to hurt you, promise!" Sabo said, ignoring Ace as he tried to calm the situation down. The shark was still growling, in between the brothers and the princess protectively as he did.

"Whys she saying she's not scared? Shes really scared... and sad." Luffy said, confused as he stared at the wailing princess.

"Shh, shh, calm down-!" Sabo was cut off as he heard a whistling in the air behind them, as if something was heading their way, fast.

"Somethings coming." He hissed to his brothers, all three of them spinning to face whatever it was. Ace could clearly see something heading their way and he was pretty sure it was a... sword? He couldn't even tell his brothers about it because it was suddenly right in front of them all, and it took everything the brothers had to block the sword from coming any closer. The three used as much haki as they could muster to block the sword from moving anymore, the force of it pushing them back a bit, until they were able to push it away, allowing it to fly harmlessly into the wall.

"What was that about?!" Ace asked as he looked at the weapon now lying uselessly on the ground. Again, there was no time for anyone to answer because Sabo could hear the sounds of footsteps heading their way. Shirahoshi, who had stopped crying in the midst of everything happening, was staring silently between the brothers, the sword, and the door.

"Crap, I think guards are coming," Sabo muttered as he frowned. The brothers were definitely done for now.

"Well, that's just great, what else could go- hey!" Ace couldn't even finish complaining as the princess scooped the brothers up in her hands, muttering a quick sorry before hiding them behind her back.

"What's the big idea-?"

"Shh, she's hiding us Ace, calm down!" Sabo whispered to Ace, he and Luffy sitting in the princesses hands. Ace stopped talking as the guards rushed in, asking what was wrong.

"Oh, I-I think I had a bad dream!" The mermaid princess said in an apologetic voice.

"Was that all? Why's the door open? Did someone come in?" One of the guards asked, making the princess shift nervously.

"It must have been the one who brought my food?" She asked a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but the three humans had just saved her life, so it was the least she could do... right?

"I'll have to speak to him about proper safety techniques. Oh, that reminds me! The Whitebeard pirates are here again." A guard said, and the mermaid lit up.

"Really?!" She asked happily.

"That's right. They brought some guests with them too, apparently they're honorary members but they seem to have gotten lost in the castle somewhere. If you see them don't hesitate to call us, the pirates are worried about them." It was a strange thing to hear that someone was worried about the brothers, especially seeing as they hadn't even been with the pirates a month yet, but it was also nice to here. To be honest, it made them feel a bit bad that they had worried them.

"I will!" The princess said, bringing the three out of their musings. There was the sound of the door closing as the guards left and the princess sighed, moving her hands back in front of her as she looked at the brothers, a look of worry on her face.

"Thank you three very much. I was being very rude before, please forgive me! I didn't know you were with the Whitebeards. What are your names?" She asked.

"Ah, well, I'm Sabo and these are my brothers Ace and Luffy. What's your name?" Sabo asked politely. The princess smiled.

"I'm Shirahoshi, King Neptune's daughter! You're with the Whitebeards, so you're good people, right?" Shirahoshi asked.

"Yeah! You're a good person too!" Luffy said matter-of-factly, taking in the bright blue aura around the princess, almost just as, if not more, bright than Ace and Sabo's.

"Anyways, what was with that sword?" Ace asked, looking back over to the weapon that the guards had failed to notice earlier.

"That's a good question. Who threw it? And from where?" Sabo asked as he also examined the weapon closer, taking in the rose pattern on its hilt.

"I know who threw it," Shirahoshi said somberly, a frown on her face as she turned to look at the sword.

"Was it a bad person?" Luffy asked with a frown as well.

"I-I guess you could call him that. His name is Vander Decken. He holds a grudge against me for refusing to marry him. That gentleman has a Devils power called Mato-Mato." Shirahoshi explained. The three frowned as they listened.

"Mato-Mato? What's it do?" Ace asked.

"It allows him to strike me anywhere anytime with a thrown weapon since he designated me as his mark. That's why it's too dangerous for me to leave this Hard Shell Tower." Shirahoshi finished. As she did Luffy's stomach rumbled and she looked down in shock.

"Sorry, I'm still hungry!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> So, the brothers have met Jinbe, Neptune and Shirahoshi, all in one chapter. Not only that, but they've managed to find the Hard Shell Tower as well where Shirahoshi is trapped. I'm trying to stick to the canon timeline, so at this point Shirahoshi had been locked in the tower for several years already which is why they were able to find her there. I left the meeting similar to how Luffy met the princess in the anime, but things will be changing from here on out now that the brothers met her much earlier than they were supposed to.
> 
> Also, we have been introduced to the idea that there could possibly be more than one facility. This is something that will be brought up again in the future, for better or worse.


	50. Worried Pirates and Nicknames

"Sorry, I'm still hungry!" Luffy laughed, rubbing the back of his head as his brothers rolled their eyes.

"Oh, well you can have my food if you want," Shirahoshi said with a smile as she gestured to the giant plates of food beside her.

"Wah! Really?!" Luffy asked, eyes sparkling in delight and mouth watering in anticipation as he stared at the feast in front of them.

"Mm! You did save me after all, and you're with the Whitebeards. Its the least I can do!" Shirahoshi said happily as she lowered her hand over to the food. Luffy cheered and jumped over to the food, Ace close behind while Sabo followed at a much slower pace, shaking his head at his brothers' antics. Ace and Luffy began chowing down, Sabo opting to take a much smaller portion, while Shirahoshi watched in amazement.

"So, this Vander Decken guy wants to marry you, but he's trying to kill you? That doesn't make much sense." Ace said, mouth full as he spoke. Luffy nodded his agreement beside his brother as he took a bite out of the bread.

"Its been 5 years already," Shirahoshi said as if it wasn't all that big a deal.

"5 years? You must be bored!" Luffy said as he swallowed, this time Ace nodded in agreement as he took a sip of the water.

"On top of that my father made a rule that the guards can't stay here for more than 5 minutes. Megalo here is the only one I can talk to. He's my dear friend." The mermaid princess said a bit somberly now as she looked over to the shark who was close by.

"That sounds like no fun at all," Luffy said with a frown as he began slurping up a piece of seaweed.

"Not really. Anyway, you humans sure eat a lot even though you're small!" She said, observing the mass amounts of food Ace and Luffy were scarfing down in record time.

"Ah, don't use those two as reference. Regular humans eat much smaller portions. I, for example, am quite content with just this much." Sabo said as he showed his much smaller portion of food, more comparable to how much normal humans ate. Shirahoshi giggled at that, resting her head in her hand.

"So you three are with the Whitebeards, right? Do you guys go on a lot of adventures?" She asked wistfully, looking off somewhere.

"Well, we haven't been with them long, but they have gone on quite a few if Whitebeards stories are anything to go on," Sabo said with a smile as he thought back to the stories the old man would tell them.

"Oh yeah? Have you ever seen the sun? There are stars in the night sky, aren't there? And there are different kinds of flowers and hairy animals! Have you ever been to a green place called a 'forest'?" Shirahoshi asked with a dreamy look in her eye. Sabo laughed a bit nervously at all the questions while Ace and Luffy eyed her weirdly as they continued eating.

"That's a lot of questions, but uh, yes, yes, yes, basically, yes to all of them," Sabo said, ticking off fingers as he tried remembering all the questions.

"Really?! I've always wanted to see those places! But... it would be selfish for me to leave my room." The princess said, looking over to the giant doors sadly, sighing a bit as tears began welling up again. Sabo didn't know what to say to that, especially seeing as the mermaid looked to be on the verge of crying again.

"You can't leave because of that Vader Deck guy, right?" Luffy asked as he and Ace finished up the last of the food. Sabo mindlessly corrected Luffys mispronunciation of Vander Deckens name while Shirahoshi nodded, turning back to look at the brothers.

"So we just gotta stop him, right? And then you can leave." Ace said, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Y-yes, but no one's been able to find him," Shirahoshi said, eyebrows slanting in worry.

"Don't worry about that, princess. Anyways, I think we should be leaving now. If what the guards said is true, the Commanders are worried about us." Sabo said, standing and smoothing his down. Ace and Luffy nodded in agreement, both getting ready to leave as well. Before they were able to say goodbye though, the princess began sobbing again.

"You three are really nice! Thank you for wanting to help me! I'm sorry I kept you here so long." She sobbed, Ace tsking at the tears.

"And I thought Luffy was a crybaby." He muttered though Shirahoshi didn't hear over her crying. Regardless, Sabo elbowed his brother while Luffy laughed.

"Uh, its no worry Princess, anyways, I guess this is goodbye for now!" Sabo said as he and his brothers jumped onto the bed, narrowly avoiding a falling teardrop, and making their way down the blanket.

"G-Goodbye Sabo-sama! Luffy-sama! Ace-sama!" Shirahoshi said, tears still falling as she waved goodbye to them, Megalo waving as well. The three went to the doors, Sabo listening to make sure no one was near, and then pushed them open with his brothers, enough for them to slip out. Once out they shut the doors again, looking around once they were out.

"Now, let's hope they're not mad about our little disappearing act," Sabo said with a sigh. Ace and Luffy nodded and the three began heading off in random directions, waiting to randomly come across someone. It would be better if they were actually lost in the depths of the castle so that it would look more believable to whoever found them. It didn't take long for Sabo to hear Thatch and Marco talking and to lead his brothers in their direction.

"Maybe marines got here without us noticing and took them! Marco, what if they were caught again, and we didn't even realize?!" Thatch said with a worried voice, making Sabo wince a bit in guilt that they had worried the chef so much.

"I'm sure they're fine, yoi, and if they were taken you know Oyaji would go after them," Marco replied with his normally stoic tone, but Sabo was sure he heard a bit of worry in it as well.

"Well, yeah, but- ah! There you three are! We were so worried!" Thatch said, tears of joy springing to his eyes as he ran over to them, looking as if he was going to hug them. They tensed a bit, not exactly ready for the physical touch, but allowed it regardless, trying their best not to squirm or push him away. After all, they had been trying to get more comfortable around the pirates, and that meant being able to physically interact with them without fear that they would stab them in the back while they did.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Sabo stuttered out, entirely focused on not pushing the Commander away and not paying attention to how articulate he was. Thatch pulled away, a relieved smile on his face while Marco watched with his arms crossed, shaking his head at the chefs' antics.

"Uh, Luffy gets bored easily and wandered off in the middle of your talk so Ace and I went after him, but we got a bit lost," Sabo explained after regaining his composure.

"We're sorry to have worried you." Sabo apologized, bowing slightly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm just glad you three are safe! Right, Marco?" Thatch asked, grinning to the Commander who nodded.

"Let's get back to Neptune, yoi. I think the banquet is ready." Marco said, and Luffy could feel the previous worry that had come from the commander dispel into calmness. Luffy smiled happily and nodded, grabbing his brothers' hands and following behind the commanders. Even though they had just eaten Ace and Luffy would happily eat more.

"So, did you guys see anything cool in the palace?" Thatch asked as they walked. Sabo refrained from mentioning the fact that they had met the Mermaid Princess and instead opted for shaking his head.

"No, we didn't look in any rooms, just wandered through the halls." Sabo lied easily because there was no way he was telling him the truth.

"Well, I guess that's for the best, this is a palace after all. It wouldn't do us any good to get caught snooping into things we didn't mean to find." Thatch said with a shrug, but there was a mischievous feel about him that said he wouldn't mind doing exactly that. Sabo smiled at that and nodded, agreeing with the chefs' words. It didn't take much longer for the group to wander back into the entrance hall where Neptune was talking to some guards, the two ministers by his side.

"Neptune, we found them!" Thatch said cheerfully as they walked up to the king. Neptune turned with surprise but smiled happily.

"Fantastic, Jamon! Then let's go to the banquet hall and celebrate!" Neptune announced, and the brothers couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm. It was strange to them that, even though this was a palace with, no doubt, high security, no one questioned the brothers' disappearance. Surely they might be bothered over the fact that they had potentially been able to witness something they didn't want others to know. However, that didn't seem to be the case as they walked into the banquet hall and the brothers' little excursion hadn't been brought up once.

Food came out in waves and as the group was seated plates were filled. Sabo gave a quick reminder to his brothers to attempt to use the manners they had learned seeing as they were in a palace and they were, in their minds at least, on thin ice with everything that had happened.

Conversation was made as food was eaten. Topics such as updates about the island, where they could resupply, where they were heading next, etc. were mentioned while the brothers ate their food silently. This was probably the first time sense Shanks' party that the brothers had a chance to fill up as much as they wanted. Sure, they had been eating more on the Moby now, but it was more of the necessary amount rather than the amount that they would like to eat. Now, however, they were able to have two meals without anyone being the wiser.

As the food diminished and the banquet ended they all said their goodbyes to the king and the ministers, as well as Jinbe. Marco and Thatch began heading out, the brothers close behind when Sabo picked up on a conversation between two guards.

"I swear I locked that door, who would be crazy enough not to?!"

"I don't know man, maybe you thought you closed it and it didn't latch correctly?"

"No, I'm telling you, I did the usual protocol, even waited a minute to make sure it wasn't going to slip open."

"Ah well, as long as Princess Shirahoshi was fine. We'll just have to be extra careful next time. Maybe all those weapons are taking a toll on the door."

"Maybe." The mutter from the guard didn't sound all that convinced, making Sabo wince.

Yeah, they would have to be extra careful from now on.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Welcome back my sons, how was it?" Whitebeard asked from where he sat in his chair as they arrived back on the Moby.

"It was good Oyaji," Marco said, walking up to the giant.

"Yeah, we had another banquet! Those royals sure know how to throw a good feast." Thatch said dreamily as he thought up the many different things he could cook with the inspiration he got from their meal.

"Gurarara~! I don't doubt it!" Whitebeard laughed. The brothers watched as the two Commanders began chatting with the Captain and decided they would head off to their room. It was getting late now, the group having spent the entire rest of the day on the island and having dinner at the palace. They slipped off silently into the catacombs of the Moby and headed to their room, Ace yawning and stretching as they did.

"I wish we could have more feasts like that! It was delicious! And we got to eat _sooo~_ much, right Ace?!" Luffy asked happily as he thought back to their day.

"Sure did, Lu. Maybe we can do something like that again one day." Ace mused, a small smile on his face.

"The food was pretty good, not to mention plentiful." Sabo agreed, thinking back to the giant-sized portions that had been served. They reached their room after that, the three filing in quickly and shutting the door behind them. Ace and Luffy immediately went straight to the beds, pulling off their wristbands and flinging them over to their desk without even looking. Sabo rolled his eyes, taking off his own wristband and walking over to the desk, placing his with his brothers.

"If you lose those then you can't go on islands you know," Sabo said with a hint of a smile as he did.

"What?! Ace, you almost made me lose mine!" Luffy cried as he looked over to their wristbands with wide eyes.

"What do you mean I made you?! You threw it, not me!" Ace retorted angrily, but Luffy wasn't hearing it, instead pouting and crossing his arms, looking away from the eldest.

"Meanie, you don't want me going on islands." He muttered, only riling Ace up more. Sabo laughed, getting into bed and deciding to defuse the situation he had kind-of-sort-of started.

"Now now, calm down, they're still safe you've just got to be more careful with them next time," Sabo said, ruffling Luffys hair, his Straw Hat sitting on his lap. The youngest beamed at him and nodded, promising he would be more careful with it.

"Whatever. Anyways, what are we gonna do about that Vander Decken guy?" Ace asked as he crossed his arms behind his head, laying down and staring at the ceiling. Sabo frowned and laid down as well.

"We're gonna beat him up!" Luffy said as if it were obvious.

"We could, but the pirates don't know we can fight, remember? If we just show up to the palace and say we've defeated him there's going to be a lot of questions." Sabo said softly, paranoid that someone would hear their conversation.

"Oh..." Luffy mumbled as he laid down as well, frowning a little.

"But... we are going to help Shibasoshi, right?" Luffy asked, completely butchering the poor Princess's name. Sabo smiled gently at that.

"Its Shirahoshi, Luffy, not Shibasoshi." He corrected, the youngest's face scrunching in confusion.

"But that's hard to pronounce. Shibasoshi's easier." He said as if it made everything ok.

"Remember the conversation we had before? Sometimes your nicknames can hurt people, even if you don't mean it." Sabo chastised gently, knowing that, sometimes, Luffy just couldn't be bothered to do something without good reason.

"Oh yeah..." He mumbled quietly, frowning a bit at that. He didn't want to hurt good people, and Shibasoshi was a good person. Even if she did cry a lot, which he knew made Ace mad.

"Regardless, we _are_ going to help her, so don't worry about that," Sabo reassured. The princesses situation reminded them all too much about their own experience at the facility, being locked up without any freedom. Of course, while they were in a dark cold cell and barely fed anything, Shirahoshi was in a warm, comfortable room and fed extravagant meals. Even so, a cage is still a cage, no matter how nice it is.

"But we don't know how." Ace stated with a hint of annoyance in his tone, showing that he very much just wanted to go beat the man up and get this over with. Sabo sighed, already knowing this was going to be a tricky plan to pull of, and they didn't even really have a plan.

"Right now, no, we don't. I guess we're just going to have to see what happens tomorrow. Odds are though that we're going to have to fight him. I don't see a guy who chased after the princess for five years stopping now just because we asked politely." Sabo said as he thought about how they could pull this off.

"You're right about that." Ace muttered as he got comfy on the bed, closing his eyes, but still listening.

"Maybe Ace can use his haki!" Luffy suggested happily, and his brothers looked over to him with wide eyes.

"Did you just... suggest something smart?" Ace asked in disbelief, mouth gaping at the idea.

"Meanie," Luffy said, knowing the words were an insult. He could be smart, just not as smart as Sabo. Speaking of, the blonde tried, but failed, to remove the shock from his face and address the suggestion.

"Well, that could work, but it's not a guarantee, it doesn't work on everyone, remember?" Sabo asked. They didn't know a lot about the rare third haki, but they had found out through trial and error that the mysterious power didn't always work the same on everyone. For one, it didn't affect the brothers, whether it was because Ace wasn't directing it to them, or because they were immune like some others, they didn't know. Not only that but when Ace had tried using it on some of the doctors, namely Haru, it had only made him stumble a bit, not knock him out like it had on other kids they used it on.

That being said, the power, while helpful in some cases, was a hit or miss with their experience.

"Oh, right," Luffy muttered.

"It was a good thought though, we'll definitely try it tomorrow and see if it works," Sabo said encouragingly, ruffling Luffys hair and smiling to the youngest. Luffy looked over to the blonde and smiled widely, nodding happily at the fact that he had helped, even if only a little.

"We should go to sleep then. The faster we can beat this guy up the faster that crybaby princess can leave her room." Ace said, rolling onto his side, facing away from his brothers in an attempt to fall asleep.

"Don't call her that when we're around people, please." Sabo groaned, knowing that there would most definitely be a reaction to the words depending on who heard them. He thought Luffy was bad, but now he had to worry about Ace's nicknames.

"Yeah, whatever."


	51. The Hunt for Vander Decken

The next day after breakfast the brothers were given the ok by Marco to go exploring, so long as they come straight back if they needed any help. The brothers agreed, and just like that, the search for Vander Decken commenced.

Sabo was listening intently to their surroundings, waiting for even a hint of Vander Deckens name to be mentioned. Ace was scanning their surroundings, and seeing as he didn't know what the man looked like, opted for looking for any suspicious looking people. Luffy, much like Ace, couldn't smell right with all of this water around them, so he opted to do what he did best and scan for any bad auras that would indicate a bad person.

The three searched a lot longer then they would have preferred, the time nearing lunch before they caught a hint of anything.

They had ventured a bit closer to the edge of the bubble when Sabo heard talking off in the water, much further away from Fishman Island, located more in the depths of the ocean. It had been a brief noise, so far away that it was even hard for Sabo to hear, but he swore someone had said Decken. Seeing as this was the closest they'd gotten to any clues about the man's whereabouts Sabo shushed his brothers who had started an argument on whether it would be appropriate to eat the fish swimming outside the bubble or not.

"I think I heard someone out there talking about Decken," Sabo whispered, more focused on listening rather than the words he was saying. This shut his brothers up immediately, letting Sabo listen. They stayed silent, and Sabo could hear the murmuring in the distance. Being unable to hear the words frustrated the blonde, and after having searched this long even his patience was wearing thin.

"I can't make out what they're saying, but I know I heard someone say Decken out there," Sabo said to his brothers. Being so close to a clue, yet so far frustrated the blonde more then he would like to admit.

"Where'd you hear the talking?" Ace asked, looking around at the different fishmen and women roaming around them. Sabo shook his head, grabbing Aces shoulder and turning him to look outside the bubble they were in.

"It wasn't here on the island, it was out there." He said, pointing off into the distance. Ace and Luffy frowned at that, the youngest squinting in an attempt to see something while Ace used his enhanced vision to take a look.

"Oh. I don't see anything out there or anyone. It's just a bunch of fish... some coral... a giant- oh, I see a ship!" Ace said with a grin, excitement rising in him at the prospect of actually finding the man they were most likely going to fight.

"Then let's go!" Luffy said happily, nearly charging right at the bubble. Before he had a chance to though, Sabo stopped him.

"Now hold on, how exactly are we going to get over there? Not only do we have to somehow get through this bubble, but we also have to get through the next bubble surrounding this one. Also, did you two fail to remember that that's water out there and you're both devil fruit users? And not to mention we're hundreds, maybe thousands, of feet under the water? I'm not a superhuman, that kind of pressure would kill me." Sabo said, arms folded over his chest as he frowned at his over-eager brothers. Ace frowned in annoyance, mimicking Sabos stance and folding his arms as well.

"What are we supposed to do then? I'm not just gonna let the crybaby princess stay in that room the rest of her life because of some stupid water." Ace said, Luffy nodding his agreeance.

"Yeah, me neither!" Luffy shouted. This caused Sabo to sigh, knowing just as well as his brothers that none of them wanted to let that happen.

"And you think I do? This just means we have to figure out how we're going to get out there without drowning. Not only that, but we also have to figure out how to get out there in the first place." Sabo said, eyeing the protective bubble around them.

"Why don't we just walk through it?" Luffy asked, Ace nodding as he obviously thought the same thing. Sabo took a deep breath, trying to stay patient, knowing that sometimes his brothers weren't the brightest.

"The bubbles are tough, remember? And that was just a bubble around the ship, I have no doubt that this giant bubble surrounding the island would be much tougher and harder to get through. Not only that but there's another bubble around this one, meaning that even if we managed to get out of this one, we'd still have to get out the other." Sabo explained, pushing his hand on the bubble to prove his point that it wouldn't go through so easy.

"So we just need something to push us out, right?" Ace asked, and Sabo couldn't stop the slightly frustrated sigh that left his lips then.

"Ace, were you not listening? We'd need a lot of force behind us to get us through this." Sabo said, gesturing once more to the giant bubble. Ace pouted and crossed his arms, also becoming annoyed.

"Of course I was listening! I was just thinking, what about Luffys rocket? Couldn't that get us through?" Ace asked, and suddenly the frustration and impatience left Sabo as he felt slightly guilty about getting mad at his brother when he was only trying to help.

"Oh, well, that might work, but it would probably only get us through one of the layers if we were lucky, and then we'd still be stuck in the second layer where Luffy wouldn't have anything to grab onto to rocket us. It was a good thought though." Sabo said, giving his brother a slightly apologetic smile. It went silent again as they thought about their options, and soon it became obvious to them that they didn't have many.

"We can't use the entrance, I doubt the guards would just let us walk out there, even if we are Whitebeards, we're still kids. Not to mention, it would be weird if we left Fishman Island and came back with Vander Decken." Sabo said, thinking out loud as he began pacing back and forth, trying to think up a solution.

"What about the guys that're leaving?" Luffy asked, looking over at something. Confused, his brothers looked as well and saw that there was a small group of fishmen loading up a relatively small boat, looking to be heading out.

"Well... that could work, but what about the whole drowning thing?" Sabo asked, watching the men carefully.

"Bubbly coral!" Luffy provided happily, holding up their bubbly coral proudly, and Sabo felt a bit dumb for having forgotten about the wonderful piece of technology.

"Why can't you be this smart all the time?"Ace asked, a smile on his face as he took the coral from his brother. Luffy, expectedly, pouted at the insult, but Sabo didn't give them time to argue.

"If we're doing this then we have to go now, the boats about ready to leave," Sabo said, hearing some fishmen calling that everything was loaded and they were ready to go. Faces serious now, Ace and Luffy both nodded and the trio headed to the ship, glancing around to make sure no one was watching them too closely. It was relatively easy to sneak onto the boat, all they had to do was silently follow the last guy up the gangplank and disappear from sight before anyone saw them. Apparently, the crew wasn't worried about stowaways because no one looked for them and no one expected them to be there.

It was all too simple to slip off to the many stacks of boxes and barrels and hide behind them. It just so happened that their hiding spit was right beside the railing as well, giving them a perfect escape route. The ship began to disembark so Sabo took the opportunity to use the bubbly coral to surround him and his brothers in a bubble. With that done, all they had to do was wait and hope no one managed to stumble upon them.

The ride out was quick and easy, the ship leaving through the entrance they had entered with the day before, and before they knew it they were jumping off the boat and out of the protective coating around it, leaving them alone in the depths of the ocean.

"Alright Ace, nows a good time to use that supervision of yours and guide us to Vander Decken," Sabo said as he looked around blindly for the ship Ace had seen, but having no luck in finding it. Ace nodded and glanced around for it, promptly finding it somewhere over to their left.

"It's over there, a bit away, but it shouldn't take too long to get to it. Come on." Ace said, and the three began to make their way over to the ship, slowly but steadily.

"Can you see anyone on the ship?" Sabo asked, wanting to know what they were up against. Being out in the ocean now everything sounded a bit muffled to him. He could still hear things, like the people on the ship, but he couldn't make out what they were saying as easily as normal or figure out how many different voices there were.

"Yeah, a pretty good bunch of people. I think its a pirate ship. Hey, is this Decken guy a pirate or something?" Ace asked, noticing the skull waving proudly on the black flag.

"I don't know, Princess Shirahoshi never mentioned it," Sabo said with a shrug, not caring if this man was a pirate or a king.

"We get to beat up some pirates? Cool!" Luffy cheered happily, arms stretching out above him and in turn stretching the bubble.

"Why don't we be a bit more careful Lu? I'd rather not test this bubbles limits while we're depending on it to keep us all from dying," Sabo said, sweatdropping as he gently lowered Luffy's arms.

"Isn't it supposed to be pretty tough? Besides, we're about to find out soon seeing as we have to fight these guys and they don't look like they're using a bubble around their ship." Ace said, squinting to get a better look. Sabo sighed in defeat, knowing his brother was right and hoping that the bubble would hold up. Really, they should have planned this better, or at least have tested the bubble to see how tough it was, but it was too late to turn back now and there was no way they were going back empty-handed.

Soon enough, the brothers reached the ship, the Flying Dutchman according to its sails, and it was easy to just swim right onto the deck seeing as there was nothing stopping them.

'Try haki.' Sabo tapped quickly before anyone noticed they were there. Ace nodded, and while he blasted the fishmen in front of them Sabo used the bubbly coral to give the brothers their own separate bubbles, allowing them to move more freely.

The haki clearly affected most of the pirates, a lot of them falling to the ground foaming at the mouth. Meanwhile, a few kneeled at the pressure and one remained standing, only stumbling a bit. When they had reached the ship Sabo had been able to make out the talking much clearer, and if he had to guess, the one standing was Decken according to the many, now fallen, pirates. He also seemed to be the Captain of this crew as well. Though the man was definitely a Fishman, he had a bubble around him as well, confusing the brothers. Couldn't fishmen breathe under water? Why would he have a bubble around him if he could supposedly breathe just fine like his crew around them?

And then Sabo remembered the fact that Vander Decken supposedly had a devil fruit. It was strange that the sea would affect even a Fishman, but Sabo knew not to question the mysterious powers of the fruit.

"Oh? And who are you?" Vander Decken asked, eyeing the three brothers with a raised eyebrow and a frown. Seeing as most of his crew was down on the floor and they hadn't even touched anyone yet meant that one of them had the third rare haki, something Decken knew to be wary of. Even so, they were just kids.

"We're here to ask you to stop sending Princess Shirahoshi weapons to her door," Sabo said with a polite smile, knowing full well the man wasn't going to stop just because they asked.

"So Shirahoshi sent you then, hm? No matter, I will have the princess marry me! Her beauty is meant only for me and if she can't accept that then she will just have to die." Decken announced, his crewmates nodding their agreement and cheering their Captain on, all getting ready to fight.

"As you can see, I won't be stopping anytime soon, and there's nothing three kids can do to make me change my mind." The Captain said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest. All of the brothers smiled now, Ace and Luffy cracking their knuckles in anticipation while Sabo tilted his head.

"Actually, I think there is." The blonde said matter of factly. At that moment one of the fishmen seemed to notice the symbol on their wristbands, their eyes going wide.

"C-Captain, they're with the W-Whitebeards!" The Fishman stuttered, pointing to the emblem. The entire crews' eyes went wide, even Deckens.

"What?! But they're just a bunch of kids!" Decken shouted in surprise, the brothers' smiles never faltering for a second.

"No matter, we can take them on and let their bodies sink to the sea floor! That old man will never know what happened to 'em! Hear that? Let's get 'em!" Vander Decken shouted, pointing to the brothers. The few remaining crew members cheered and rushed forward toward the three.

"Luffy and I can handle them Ace, you go get Decken," Sabo said, knowing the eldest would be best suited to fight the captain. He was always the strongest out of them, though he would never admit that out loud to him.

Aces grin turned malicious as he nodded, fists formed as he rushed toward the Captain, his brothers following to stop anyone who would get in the way.

"Aw, but I wanted to fight him!" Luffy whined as he easily punched a man that had tried to swing their sword at him.

"I'm older, so that means I get the bigger fish!" Ace shouted, sticking his tongue out at Luffy as he ran past the crew and towards Decken, leaving his brothers to fight.

"No fair." Luffy pouted, knocking another two fishmen out with his whip, flinging them into the side of the cabin.

"If we hurry up here we can join Ace in beating him up," Sabo said with a smile as he knocked the many legs out from under an octopus Fishman, the man falling to the ground where Sabo stomped on his chest. The man wheezed in pain and Sabo kicked him to the side as he took on another two fishmen who tried converging on him. Jumping into the air -water?- he dodged the swipes of their swords and kicked the back of one of them, sending him flying into his crewmate and launching them into the same man Luffy had kicked into the cabin wall.

"Yosh! I'm gonna beat 'em all up!" Luffy cheered, knocking two heads together. Sabo and Luffy were doing fairly well, watching each others backs so neither got a cut or scratch on them. Within minutes they were done and they felt nice and warmed up. It had been a while since they had been able to fight, and it felt nice to get the exercise, especially for Luffy. He hadn't been able to stretch his limbs that far in a long time and it felt amazing. It was a good thing that none of the fishmen had a chance to notice the boys' devil fruit before they were knocked out.

Turning to look at how Ace was fairing they saw that it was an easily one-sided fight with Ace being the obvious victor. Decken was covered in bruises and his face was already beginning to swell from how hard Ace had punched him. Sabo couldn't help but chuckle at how overboard Ace had gone while Luffy was pouting again, mumbling that he wanted to fight 'Dellen' too.

"If you wanted to fight him you should've beaten the others quicker." Ace said, having heard Luffy's complaints. There wasn't a single scratch on Ace either, and he wasn't even out of breath from the fight.

"I thought these guys were supposed to be strong," Sabo said, nudging Deckens motionless hand with his foot in slight disappointment. Either the brothers were much stronger then they had thought, or these guys were much weaker than average.

"Wasn't that strong to me." Ace said, slightly annoyed that the Captain hadn't put up much of a fight. In the middle of the man boasting about how strong he was and how weak Ace was Ace had sent a fiery fist at the man's face and knocked him out instantly. All the other punches were Ace venting his pent up frustrations.

"So what now?" The eldest asked, crossing his arms and looking to the blonde.

"Well, we bring him back." He said with a shrug, lifting the unconscious Captain and putting him on his back, getting ready to make the swim back to Fishman Island.

"Just like that?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, there's not much else we can do," Sabo said as he walked to the railing of the ship, his brothers following.

"But I thought we had to hide how strong we were," Luffy said in confusion, tilting his head. Sabo nodded jumping off the railing and beginning the swim back.

"You're right, we do, that's why we're going to fib about how we defeated Decken. Ace, lead us back to the entrance." Sabo said, and Ace mindlessly got to the front and began leading the way.

"How are we going to explain the very obvious wounds?" Ace asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Well, this definitely would have been easier if you hadn't made it so obvious that someone attacked him, but I expected you to do something like this so I already had a story ready. Don't worry, it'll be fine." Sabo said, moving Decken a bit to make it easier to swim while carrying him. They didn't speak after that, Ace and Luffy trusting that Sabo would handle things as they came. It took a bit longer to get to the entrance seeing as they were just swimming back, but eventually, they made it, and as Sabo anticipated the voice of the guards inside boomed out to them through speakers.

"What are you three doing out there?" They asked, clearly baffled by the three teens making their way to the Island.

"Well, we found something that you might want to come take care of," Sabo said, nudging his shoulder that Deckens head was resting on, giving them a view of the fishmans beaten appearance.

"Is that-? Oi, call the royal palace! Tell them some kids got Vander Decken!" The noise coming from the speakers suddenly became frantic as there was chaos inside, all the guards moving as fast as they could to get the message to the palace.

"You three just stay there, the Royal Highness will be by soon." The voice said eventually to them, and Sabo nodded, the brothers getting comfy as they waited.

"So far so good." Ace said arms crossed as he looked at the giant entrance. Sabo nodded.

"Yeah, let's just hope it stays that way," Sabo said. Sure, he had a plan, an explanation for all of this, but even so, it was a bit far fetched. However, there would be no other way of explaining how they managed to take down the infamous Vander Decken without telling them they had attacked and defeated him and his entire crew.

"I think everything's going to be ok! Sabo's smart!" Luffy said in reassurance, most likely having picked up on all the nervousness coming from both Ace and Sabo. The two oldest smiled at him and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right Lu, there's nothing to worry about." Ace agreed, nodding his head. Luffy felt the nervousness seemingly melt away from his brothers as they calmed down, Luffy's words having helped them immensely. It was always strange to the two older brothers how Luffy could seemingly calm their emotions if he tried, no matter how anxious or scared they were.

Minutes ticked by slowly, and after about 20 minutes had passed the guard announced that Neptune was there. The man was on his giant whale, arms crossed and face serious as they came out into the ocean with the brothers.

"You got Vander Decken, jamon?" He asked skeptically.

"We did your highness," Sabo said, swimming up to the King with his brothers and handing the defeated Captain over. Neptunes' eyes widened in surprise, clearly not having expected it to be true, but now that he was seeing it, he was speechless.

"I-I... I don't know what to say..." He trailed off, staring at the unconscious man sitting in front of him.

"Thank you. You've done a great service to this Island! Come, we must get back to the Palace at once! I'll send for the Whitebeards to join us, jamon!" Neptune said, his joy and relief exuding from him in waves, making Luffy fill with joy and relief in response.

The brothers were ushered onto the whale and then were brought back into Fishman Island where they headed straight for Ryugu Palace. As they got close Sabo could hear the guards inside whispering about rumors they'd heard that Vander Decken had been defeated, but the second they actually reached the palace and went inside, everyone grew silent, standing tall and faces void of emotion.

The brothers and Neptune got off of the whale, Neptune holding Vander Decken, and the trio followed the King as he walked up to the ministers and a few guards. Tossing Vander Decken over to the guards he gave them a serious look.

"Lock him up, jamon and make sure there's no way he can get out." He said to the guards, who saluted and grabbed the man, quickly rushing to the prison cells.

"So the rumors are true then." Minister of the Right said as he watched Vander Decken disappear from sight. Neptune nodded, a smile blossoming once more.

"They are. Thanks to our friends here, Shirahoshi should finally be safe from Deckens advances, jamon!" Neptune cheered happily, the ministers smiling as well in relief.

"Then you have our eternal gratitude." Minister of the Left said, bowing to the brothers who didn't quite know how to react to the attention, especially since the Whitebeards weren't there yet.

"Ah, you know, it was nothing," Sabo said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. At that moment there was a ringing from a snail phone, which one of the ministers promptly moved to, answering it. It was the princes, who the brothers had yet to meet, saying they had arrived with the Whitebeards. The Minister opened the channel for them to get in and the group waited in silence for the pirates to arrive.

"Oh, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, you're here too?" Thatch asked as he, Marco, Haruta, and Namur walked in, the three Princes trailing in behind them. The brothers only waved to the pirates in response as Marco looked up at Neptune.

"What was the purpose of calling us all here, yoi?" He asked. Luffy could feel that he was a bit worried but mostly curious and Luffy could tell the worry was directed toward the brothers. Did he think they were in trouble?

"Why, for a celebration, of course, jamon!" Neptune said cheerily, smile wide on his face.

"A celebration? For what?" Haruta asked, also confused, along with the other Commanders.

"Well, it would seem you're new recruits are quite amazing indeed. They managed to find and defeat Vander Decken, Jamon." Neptune said, the smile never leaving his face. The Commanders all became wide-eyed, turning to look at the brothers in astonishment.

"You defeated Vander Decken?" Namur asked. They had all heard about the man, he was the reason for keeping the princess locked away all this time, but they hadn't been able to find him anywhere on the island whenever they were around.

"Well, not exactly," Sabo said, beginning the lie.

"I'm sure they can recount the story at the feast." Minister of the Right said, ushering the group into the dining hall they had been in previously where there was once again a feast being held. Luffys mouth watered at the memory of how good yesterdays feast had been, and he and Ace immediately rushed to sit down, Sabo following at a much more average pace.

As food was passed around and everyone became settled, all eyes were on the brothers, everyone wanting to know just what had happened. To be honest, Ace and Luffy were curious as well, their eyes turning to Sabo as they waited for him to begin explaining.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning. My brothers and I were walking around Fishman Island and we got close to the docks where we saw someone outside the bubbles who looked to be drowning. We asked one of the leaving merchants to take us out there and used the bubbly coral to swim over and saw that it was Vander Decken, which confused us because he's a Fishman." Sabo began, and he could already see that everyone was listening with rapt attention, the Whitebeards especially.

"So we pulled him into our bubble and he started muttering random things like Shirahoshi and how he was going to marry her, and he said his own name too which is how we knew who he was. When we got lost here yesterday we heard some people talking about the mermaid princess and how she was confined to her room because of Decken, so we knew he was a bad guy, and before he regained his senses Ace started hitting him... a couple of times." Sabo said with a shrug as if it wasn't a big deal.

"After he seemed to be incapacitated we brought him back to the entrance where the guards called King Neptune and they imprisoned him." Sabo finished, eating calmly to keep up the rouse that their story was true. Everyone seemed to buy the story, and a check with Luffy proved that no one was suspicious of them.

"Magnificent! Thank you for the service you've done to the Kingdom, it can never be repaid, Jamon." Neptune said, his smile never leaving his face the entire time.

"Really, it was no problem, we didn't even do that much," Sabo said, holding his hands up as he shook his head.

"It may not seem that way, but the entire kingdom has been looking for Decken for years. To think, he was outside the bubble this entire time." Fukaboshi spoke up finally, his brothers nodding their agreement beside him.

"Yes, why don't you and your brothers go get Shirahoshi. I'm sure she would like to finally come out of her room and meet her saviors, jamon." Neptune said to the princes who nodded and immediately headed toward the tower Shirahoshi was in. Everyone began finishing up their meals and began heading back to the main hall of the palace.

'You don't think that crybaby princess is going to give us away, do you?' Ace asked as they followed Marco and Thatch closely.

'I don't think so, after all, we did help her as we promised.' Sabo said, also a bit nervous that she would, whether on purpose or not.

'I don't think she will, Shibahoshi's a good person!' Luffy replied confidently.

'Yeah, that's true. Also, its Shirahoshi you two. Especially here in the palace you have to call her by her actual name, not crybaby, and not Shibahoshi, got it?' Sabo asked sternly, knowing his brothers were stubborn about things like that.

'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' Ace replied, and Sabo just had to hope the eldest would listen. Even though Sabo had just warned Ace about his name calling, he could already hear said Princess heading their way, tears and sobs already making their way to his enhanced senses.

"Ah, Shirahoshi!" Neptune greeted as the giant mermaid entered the hall, her brothers following close behind.

"Father, is it true?" Shirahoshi asked, looking towards the brothers for only a second before looking back to the king. Her tears, as expected, were falling fast and hard.

"It is, these three brought Vander Decken here themselves, jamon," Neptune said, gesturing to the brothers. Sabo and Luffy were smiling to the princess while Ace looked as if he was uninterested, though he was a bit antsy at all the sudden attention they were now getting.

"Really? Thank you!" Shirahoshi thanked loudly, bowing her head to the brothers gratefully.

"That's not necessary, we didn't do that much princess. Its a pleasure to meet you, I'm Sabo, and these are my brothers, Ace and Luffy." Sabo said, pointing out his brothers to the princess, regardless of the fact that she already knew them, and bowed, making sure Ace and Luffy did the same.

"It's nice to meet you as well, I'm Princess Shirahoshi!" She returned, a smile widening happily on her face, even as her tears continued to fall rapidly.

"Shirahoshi, my daughter, thanks to these three, from this day forth, you can finally leave your room freely without worry, jamon," Neptune said happily, tears of his own forming in his eyes, though they didn't fall. Shirahoshi didn't respond, instead, she wiped her tears, which didn't do much to help, and nodded.

_**/\/\/\/\/\** _

"I'm sleepy!" Luffy said as he yawned, stretching his arms above him, though controlling how far they went. The group of Whitebeards and honorary Whitebeards were heading back to the ship for the night, the sky nearly completely dark now.

"Don't worry Lu, we can go to bed once we're back at the ship," Sabo said, patting Luffys back.

"I still can't believe you three managed to mangle Deckens face up that much." Thatch said, still amazed. The Whitebeards had gone and visited Vander Decken before they left to make sure the guards didn't have trouble locking him up, but mostly because they wanted to see with their own eyes that their defenseless, traumatized trio had managed to take down a man that had evaded them for years.

"Ah, well, after we heard from the guards about how Shirahoshi had been kept in her room for years we weren't exactly big fans of the guy. When we figured out who it was Ace went a little overboard, and I wasn't going to stop him so I let him." Sabo said with a shrug. Ace crossed his arms, frowning a bit as he remembered how easy it was to take the man down. He really had been hoping for a more entertaining fight.

"He was a bastard." Ace said matter of factly, Luffy nodding his agreement. The Whitebeards watched the brothers for a second, suddenly remembering that, though not quite in the same way, they had been locked up for years against their will. All of a sudden, they wished they had been able to punch the guy a few times.

"I'm glad that everything went well in the end, yoi," Marco said, face giving no indication on his emotions.

Sabo was just thankful that he hadn't been mad about them leaving the island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Decken has been captured! The brothers, thanks to their enhanced senses, were able to do it easily. I got a question last chapter on whether Luffy should be able to track Decken due to the scent on the sword he threw, however, as I briefly mentioned in the very beginning of this chapter, they're surrounded by water which is hindering Luffys ability to smell anything outside of the bubble, hence why he couldn't smell Decken. It was a good thought though, and if they were anywhere other than underwater, he definitely would have been able to pick up the smell and track it.
> 
> And now, about the slightly anti climactic fight. As mentioned throughout this story so far, the brothers are much more proficient at fighting then they had previously been at this point in canon. However, I've also stated that they won't be overpowered. In my mind, everything at the facility gave them a jump start on their training to the point that they're as strong as they were once Luffy started his adventure at 17. So, instead of Luffy being as weak as he was at 14, he's now as strong as when he could take down Don Kreig and Enel on his own, but unable to damage someone like Kizaru. Its the same for Ace and Sabo, except they're as strong as they were at 20, where Ace could easily distract Smoker but have difficulty against Akainu. Vander Decken is a New World villain, but the brothers are all together and, therefore, stronger than when they're by themselves which allowed them to take him down rather quickly. As it's been seen in canon, they were always stronger when they fought together. Finally, they've all had a bit of training in haki which also helps them out.
> 
> Also, in canon, Luffy literally beat the fishman in one hit with his hands tied behind his back, so its safe to say he wasn't really all that strong.


	52. Expanding Trust

Luffy jolted upright, eyes blown open wide and sweat on his forehead. Ace and Sabo both sighed in relief that the youngest had finally woken up, having been stuck in another nightmare. It hadn't lasted too long, not like the other times, only about 5 minutes, but it was still terrifying none-the-less.

"You're alright Lu, no ones gonna hurt you now." Ace murmured as he hugged Luffy to him. Sabo scooted closer, placing his hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"Yeah, Ace is right, we're here on the Moby Dick remember? With Marco and Whitebeard, trustworthy people, right?" Sabo asked, trying to calm the youngest, remind him that he was here with people he trusted rather than people he feared.

"Marco and Whitebeard? And Thatch and Izo too?" Luffy asked, much to his brothers' confusion. He asked about them the same way he asked about Marco and Whitebeard, so did that mean he trusted them as much as the first two? They'd known for a while that they could possibly trust Thatch, but this just confirmed it. Not to mention, they hadn't spent much time around Izo, and now Luffy was speaking as if they could trust him as well. The list of people they trusted was beginning to grow, and the two older brothers didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Yeah, even Thatch and Izo." Ace said, unsure of how he felt about the two. So far they had been trustworthy, and even helpful, but that didn't always mean someone was a good person, maybe it was all an act.

That always seemed to be Aces go-to answer though, that everyone around them was acting. If they were acting, they were masters at it and they weren't dropping the act anytime soon. But in reality, how realistic was it that an entire ships full of pirates were able to all act as well as these pirates had? Not to mention, be so well coordinated as well? If everyone here was acting, the brothers would have picked right up on any slip-ups that they made, but there was nothing. No one sending them suspicious looks when they thought they weren't watching, no one whispering in the dead of night in the catacombs that were the Moby Dick, no one sending them off with Marines when they had the chance.

As much as it made Ace relieved, it also made him suspicious, because these were pirates after all. If they're goal truly was to help the brothers, then why were they labeled as such bad people? Sabo and Ace both knew that these were pirates known around the world, pirates that everyone always labeled as dangerous and heartless, but here they were helping traumatized children that they knew nothing about.

Not to mention, they had agreed to stay with these pirates. Ace was sure that he had given up on all these suspicions when he agreed to stay, when he agreed that everyone here, minus Teach, was worth getting to know, worth trusting. Yet here he was, reverting back to his normal, suspicious self. Man, he was a mess.

"C-can we go eat?" Luffy asked, blinking a few times as he unknowingly, or maybe even knowingly, drove Aces self-deprecating thoughts away.

"Yeah, of course, Lu, let's go. They just finished making breakfast a few minutes ago." Sabo said, gently maneuvering Luffy off the bed and towards the door, Ace getting up a bit slower than usual as he tried processing all the many thoughts running through his head.

Surely these were just good people, mislabeled as something they weren't by a world of self-righteous bastards. After all, they had done the same to him the second he was born, before then even. Before he had even taken his first breath, his first thought, before his eyes had ever opened once, he was labeled as a monster, one that was condemned to die.

"I love you Ace," Luffy said, grabbing the eldest's hand suddenly, and all the anger, rage, hatred, it all melted away in an instant. Ace looked into his brother's eyes, amazed once again by Luffy's ease at which he could calm all of Aces emotions with just a few words. Rolling his eyes Ace nodded, squeezing the hand in his.

"Yeah, whatever," Ace muttered, ignoring the rising heat in his cheeks as he said so. He never was good at showing his emotions, especially the gooey ones that Sabo made fun of him for. Even though he didn't say it, he knew his brothers knew what he meant, what he felt. Sabo only watched with a peaceful smile, one that didn't show a hint of teasing in it.

Ace was immensely grateful that, if anything had to happen at the facility, they were all given powers that would help keep each other safe, ones that they desperately needed to survive in this unfair world.

"Come on, I think they're beginning to wonder where we're at," Sabo said, turning around to leave the room now, Ace and Luffy in tow behind him.

"Those bastards can wait a few minutes for us." Ace said, though there was no heat behind his words, because he was finally, finally beginning to warm up to these people, finally beginning to understand that maybe, just maybe the marines had mislabeled these people just as they had done to him.

Sabo seemed to pick up on Aces thoughts because his smile widened as he eyed Ace. The blonde nodded, turning to face forward again while Ace continued holding Luffy's hand, ignoring any more thoughts that wanted to slither into his mind about how he should have never been born. He had people now that needed him, needed him to protect them, people who loved him.

There was no way in hell he was going to let those thoughts of self-doubt and self-deprecation weigh him down now, not when he had brothers who relied on him, brothers who reminded him time and time again that they loved him, regardless of his parentage.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"So are you three going to the island again today?" Thatch asked as he served himself his breakfast, sitting in front of the three brothers who were already chowing down. Ace and Luffy were nearing the end of their first serving while Sabo was eating at a much more manageable pace, not even halfway through his slightly larger than normal sized meal.

Thinking about the chef's question had Sabo wondering the same thing himself. He and his brothers hadn't discussed whether they would want to go explore again today or not. Normally Sabo would say that, yes, of course, they were going, because after being trapped in a dark cell for seven years any chance they had to go explore the outside world they would gladly take.

Today, however, was different. Luffys nightmare was still fresh in the youngest's mind if his slight fidgeting and flickering eyes were anything to go by and that would probably deter him from wanting to go exploring. Even with how much they knew he loved and wanted to explore, they knew just as well that one bad nightmare could ruin their day, whether they wanted it to or not.

Glancing over to the youngest and taking in the tense frame of his brother, Sabo's lips thinned. Ace was watching Luffy closely as well as he kept an eye on the rest of the galley, making sure that their brother didn't suddenly go into a panic attack anytime soon. Was it a good idea to go out today? One wrong word, one wrong image, and Luffy would be thrown into a panic attack that they would all like to avoid. If they stayed here on the Moby, where they were all coming to terms with the fact that it was safe, they would be at a much less likely hood of running into anything that would trigger unwanted memories.

However, as Sabo was examining Luffy, the ravens' eyes flitted over to his and he grinned. It wasn't as big as normal, nor as bright, but it was enough to tell the blonde that he wanted to go, regardless of what could happen. It didn't sit well with Sabo that Luffy would be put at risk, but he didn't want to force his baby brother to stay cooped up on a ship, no matter how big it was, not after all they'd been through.

So, with a bit of hesitance and a frown from Ace, Sabo turned back over to look at Thatch who was waiting expectantly for the brothers' answer.

"Yeah, I think we will." He said with a tight smile. As much as he wanted to go, he didn't want to put his brother in any situations that could possibly harm him, physically or mentally, and going out today had a lot of potential for the latter.

"That's great! I've got a free day today and was hoping to go with you three! We haven't been able to hang out all that much since you've been here." Thatch said with a friendly smile, and Luffy could feel the joy coming from the chef at the prospect that he would be joining the brothers today. It made him feel a bit better about the idea of leaving the ship today, his nightmare still flashing through his mind, the memory of it keeping him on a constant edge. The joy from the chef pushed those thoughts away easier, and Luffy had to keep himself from letting all of the emotion in, knowing he could easily become influenced by it.

Not to mention, Luffy had wanted to hang out with Thatch more as well. After recently deciding that Marco and Whitebeard were both trustworthy people Luffy was slowly becoming more sure of the pirates that they were constantly with. Thatch had been there when they were rescued, he was there when Luffy willingly went back to the facility, he was there when Luffy found his brothers, and he had kept his promises. All of these made Luffy truly believe that the chef was also someone they could trust, but he was still a bit unsure. He wanted to be a hundred percent sure of it before mentioning to his brothers that they could trust him.

The same could be said for Izo, who Luffy could see watching them from where he sat a few seats away. Although he hadn't been there from the beginning like Marco and Thatch had, he had been there to reassure Luffy that his brothers would be ok, and had tried his best to keep him calm when Luffy didn't know whether trusting these people to help his brothers was a good idea or not. He had also helped him with his hat issue, keeping it from flying away ever again thanks to the string that was securely fastened around his neck.

It wasn't often that they hung around Izo though, the last time having been the tour that he gave them, but even that had been cut short and they never went back to finish it after that.

Deciding that he would try and do something to remedy that later Luffy returned to his meal, finishing his first serving with ease and beginning his second, Ace close behind. Sabo was continuing the conversation with Thatch, discussing where they could go for the day. It was briefly mentioned that Marco would be joining them as well, the man having joined the conversation and bringing up the brothers' excursion yesterday, mentioning he didn't want them to get into any trouble they couldn't get out of. Sabo had agreed, and it made Luffy feel better that they would be going with someone he knew for sure he could trust.

As they all finished up their breakfast, Ace and Luffy eating a good three large servings, the group headed out to the deck. Marco headed off to Whitebeard to tell the Captain about their outing for the day while the brothers and Thatch waited by the railing for the First Commander.

"Is there anything you guys want to go do and see while we're on the island? I know that you went exploring yesterday but I don't know how much you saw seeing as you got distracted." Thatch said, remembering the fact that they had taken down Vander Decken. Sabo thought about it, knowing that despite the fact they had thoroughly searched the island for the villain, they hadn't actually explored. They had been more focused on finding any hint of Decken rather than looking at any cool stores.

"I don't know, we don't really know what's out there. It would be nice to look at a few shops though." Sabo mentioned, knowing that he and his brothers were always content with window shopping. Luffy would probably ask to buy something, the youngest had an odd fondness for trinkets and such, but other than that it would be nice to just wander around and sight-see.

Thatch nodded at that, turning to look towards Fishman Island with a smile, leaning against the railing.

"Shops, huh? There's definitely a lot of those that we can go look at!" Thatch said enthusiastically, causing Sabo to smile. He wondered if this was what it was like for Luffy whenever he felt strong emotions, to become influenced by them. Just being near the happy chef made Sabo feel more happy and energetic as well as if it was contagious.

"Ready to go, yoi?" Marco suddenly asked, walking back up to the group and shaking Sabo from his musings.

"Yup! Clear everything with Pops?" Thatch asked, pushing himself off the railing as Marco nodded.

"I did, he said good luck and wants us to have fun," Marco said, relaying the Captains words to them.

"Alright, then let's get a move on to the shops!" Thatch said, pumping a fist into the air as he led the way off the ship, Marco watching him with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused but following regardless. Sabo snickered, shaking his head as he too followed, moving the wristband he wore, making sure it covered his number completely before he left the ship. He glanced over to his brothers, making sure their numbers were covered entirely as well before facing forward again, noticing Ace and Luffy were once again holding hands. Sabo had to guess that Luffy still wasn't over the nightmare.

"Why don't we head that way? I know there are some cool shops over there." Thatch said, pointing off in a direction that the brothers hadn't had a chance to explore yesterday.

"Sounds good," Sabo said with a smile. It was only a minute later that Sabo felt Luffy grab his hand as well, walking securely between he and Ace as they made their way through the throngs of Fishmen and women. The group continued on silently until they got close to the rows of shops. At this point they all slowed down, looking through the windows in interest and looking for anything that would catch their interest. At this point, Thatch began to ramble on about different things he'd gotten the previous times they had been to the island while they walked. Luffy was looking eagerly into the stores, eyes shining at the different weapons, accessories, clothes, etc.

Ace walked silently, though Sabo knew he was listening to Thatch's ramblings due to the way he would glance over to listen to the chef every once in a while. The two eldest were trying to pay more attention to the chef, knowing that Luffy thought highly of him. For the youngest to have asked about Thatch and Izo the minute after waking up from a nightmare meant he thought the two were more than just good people. It meant he was beginning to trust them, find safety among them, and if that was the case then the brothers should get used to them as well.

"There was this one time I bought a shirt here and the very next day, I kid you not, Blenheim tripped and spilled an entire oil can all over it. Had to get rid of it cause I couldn't get the giant stain out." Thatch said with a sigh, thinking back to the shirt with a fond look that made Ace force back a snicker. Sabo smiled, also doing his best to hold back laughter while Marco rolled his eyes and muttered about Thatch being over dramatic.

Luffy wasn't listening, or maybe he was, no one really could tell with the smile that he wore, but whether it was from Thatch's stories or the things he saw in the store no one knew. The boy was letting his eyes float from one window to the next, perfectly content with just looking for the time being. Sure, he still had his nightmare on his brain, but with his brothers next to him and funny stories coming from the chef, it was easy to ignore the uneasy feelings he got whenever he remembered the horrible dream.

"Ne, Ace, doesn't that look like the Tiger Lord?" Luffy asked, pointing to a plush tiger in one of the windows of a toy store. Ace tilted his head, examining the toy for a minute before nodding.

"Yeah, it does." He said eventually, knocking Luffy's hat off and ruffling the boy's hair with a smile. Luffy beamed up to his brother, his straw hat dangling safely against his back thanks to the string.

"Whats the Tiger Lord?" Thatch asked a bit hesitantly. If it had to do with the facility then it definitely wasn't anything good, and it worried him that he may cause the brothers to have bad reactions, but they seemed to be having fond memories if their smiles were anything to go on. Still, Thatch couldn't help but worry that he brought up something he shouldn't have.

"It was a giant tiger that lives back on our home island. It was best to avoid it." Sabo said, looking fondly to the tiger plush as well, remembering the days before they knew about the facility, the days before they had much of anything to worry about.

"A giant tiger huh? Sounds interesting." Thatch said honestly, trying to imagine said animal.

"Yeah, it was huuuge~! As big as these stores!" Luffy said, spreading his arms out wide in an attempt to demonstrate just how big the animal was.

"Oh yeah? That is pretty big." Thatch said, using this new information to change his view of the tiger, wondering if Luffy was exaggerating about the size or not. It was possible that the boy had seen it and interpreted it to be much larger seeing as he would have been a small child at the time, but you never know when it comes to things like that. Who knows, maybe there was an island with giant animals.

"It was! There was this one time, Ace and Sabo and I, we saw him, and-" Luffy cut himself off abruptly, eyes going wide and smile shifting quickly shifting into a frown. They all stopped and turned to look at the boy in confusion, wondering why he had suddenly stopped talking. Ace and Sabo tightened their grip on their brother's hand, looking around for whatever was causing him to be scared, and when they saw it, their eyes widened as well. The two forced themselves to swallow down their fear, instead turning to look at Luffy, though they couldn't help but keep an eye on the man out of the corner of their eye.

"Come on Lu, let's go back to the Moby." Ace grumbled lowly, his happy attitude gone and replaced with a cautious, almost scared tone that confused Marco and Thatch. The two commanders looked around for the source of the brothers fear, but they couldn't see whatever it was that they were seeing.

It didn't matter though, because Ace was lifting Luffy onto his back with Sabo's help, the young boy too frozen in shock to move a muscle. Sabo kept a hand on Luffys back, whether it was to comfort the boy, or comfort himself, the commanders couldn't tell, and then Ace was turning on his heels, practically sprinting back to the ship with how fast he was walking. Marco and Thatch exchanged a look before following after them, deciding that today's outing was over.

"What's going on, yoi?" Marco asked Sabo, the blonde seeming to be the only one that they might be able to get an answer from. Sabo seemed to think about his answer carefully before swallowing again, turning to glance at the First Commander.

"Doctor. We just saw a doctors coat is all." He said curtly, not sparing them another glance as he focused on following closely along with his brothers, and the commanders didn't ask any more questions after that.

They both knew that the brothers practically had a phobia of needles and doctors, so it wasn't surprising to see them having this reaction to one, but it had been so sudden and without warning that it had caught them off guard. It was unnerving to see the brothers smiling and cheerful one second and then frowning and scared the next.

It only took a mere two minutes for them to rush back to the Moby and for the brothers to board the ship and disappear into their room. In their wake they left a bunch of confused crew members who watched them run off in confusion, all of them looking to Thatch and Marco for answers.

"That was unexpected." Thatch said a bit sadly, hoping the brothers would be ok.

"It was, yoi. We'll have to be careful about things like this next time, we don't want them to have another reaction like this in the future." Marco said, worried for the brothers as well. He knew that people with phobias could have strong reactions when they were faced with said phobias, but it was one thing to hear about and another thing to see it. It was lucky for them that their nurses didn't wear coats like normal doctors did, or else they would have had a much harder time with the children they had saved.

"I'm going to tell Oyaji and the other Commanders about this so that we can try preventing this from happening again, yoi," Marco said, staring at where the boys had disappeared to for another second.

"Yeah, alright, that sounds good. I think I'm gonna go cook some food for them. Hopefully, they'll come out for lunch, but if not this should keep them satiated until I can make them some food and bring it to them." Thatch said, thinking back to the last time they had what they had all dubbed as a bad day. They hadn't left their room for a second, and if they had, no one had noticed. Thatch had to bring all their meals to them, not that he minded, but they got them a bit later than everyone else seeing as Thatch had to cook and serve everyone else before he could leave to serve the brothers.

"Good idea," Marco said, nodding his head as he turned and finally began walking to Whitebeard who was watching them expectantly, knowing they would come and speak with him about whatever had happened. Thatch watched Marco walk off before shaking his head, frowning as he headed to the kitchen to begin cooking.

"Let's hope tomorrow will be better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> We're still on Fishman Island and this day definitely didn't go as well as the others. As Marco mentioned, everyone reacts differently to their phobias differently, and for the brothers they tend to almost shut down, Luffy especially. Luffy was already on edge so he had a stronger reaction then Ace and Sabo did, but they all had some sort of reaction regardless.
> 
> Also, a note about last chapter, at the end when I mentioned Luffy was as strong as he was when he was 17, I should clarify a bit. When I said that, I mean that his raw physical strength was the same as when he was 17, but a few of you guys have mentioned that because he knows haki its more like hes around 18ish, when he was training with Rayleigh. That's right, so raw strength, Luffys at about 17, but haki is around when he was 18. Thank you for all the reviews on the subject though, they show me when I need to clarify things so that we're all on the same page!


	53. Heavy Thoughts

After coming back from the island the brothers stayed in their room for the rest of the day, only leaving to take bathroom breaks. The crew seemed to understand that something had happened and left them alone, Thatch making sure to bring them food since they didn't leave for meals either.

Marco had informed Whitebeard and the Commanders of what had happened and they all understood why the brothers were acting the way they were, realizing that this could possibly become a common occurrence if the brothers decided to stay. It wasn't an issue, though, it was just something they would have to be cautious of from now on.

As the next day came, the brothers tossed and turned restlessly in their bed. Nightmares plagued all three of their minds and no matter how many times they woke up and fell back asleep, they always had another. It was at 3 in the morning that Ace was the first to give up on sleeping all together, tired of closing his eyes only to see flashes of needles and grinning doctors hovering over him.

Looking over at his brothers he saw that they both had their faces scrunched in discomfort, obviously having more nightmares as well. Frowning at that Ace decided to get up and walk around for a minute, hoping it would help distract him from the repeating memories in his mind. Shuffling carefully out of the bed Ace silently tiptoed to the door, opening it without so much as a creak and slipping out into the hallway, shutting the door just as silently behind himself.

As much as he wanted to wake his brothers up, stop them from experiencing their nightmares, he knew that they also needed as much sleep as they could get, regardless of whether it was filled with bad memories or not.

Walking silently down the hall Ace made sure to keep an eye on his surroundings, straining his ears as much as he could. Sometimes he took for granted Sabo's amazing hearing, the blonde able to detect anyone heading their way before he could even see them. Now that he wasn't with his brothers and he just had his normal hearing he was a bit more jumpy, nervous that he would accidentally run into someone.

Maybe he should have just stayed in the room.

Despite his thoughts, Ace continued on down the hall, trying to use his better sight to compensate for his lack of hearing. It was still pitch black in the halls, but thanks to his vision he could easily maneuver his way to the door, having no problem reaching and opening it. It was slightly lighter outside, despite the fact that they where underwater where there was no moon or stars, but the light from the island illuminated the deck just enough to allow those with normal vision to see at least their hands in front of their face, but left them unable to see a few feet ahead of themselves.

Ace looked up to the crows nest, spotting the ones who were up for watch and quickly made his way to their blind spot, not in the mood to deal with anyone who might think it was a good idea to chat. Sitting down, Ace looked up to the sky- sea?-, watching the fish swim back and forth outside the bubble protecting them, allowing his mind to wander. He knew there were a few crew members walking the perimeter of the deck, but there was nothing Ace could do to hide from them unless he gave up his view off the sky, and that wasn't something Ace wanted to do.

Ever since leaving the facility all three of the brothers had found that just being outside, being under the sun, the moon, the stars, even the ocean, in this case, was immensely calming to them. After nightmares, after painful memories, it was always good for them to relax outside, looking into the sky. After being forced to live underground, the freedom of being able to just sit outside showed that they were free, that they weren't back in the facility anymore, and after having unwanted memories or dreams, just seeing the sky gave them all the confirmation they needed to tell them that they weren't there, that they were never going there again.

Ace let time pass, ignoring the curious glances he got from the crew members out and about. He only let himself stay out for around half an hour before deciding he should return to their room. It was inevitable that Sabo or Luffy would wake up soon if they hadn't already, and Ace would much rather get there soon to calm them down when they realized he wasn't there. Sabo would probably be able to hear where he was, and Luffy might smell that he wasn't too far away, but that didn't mean they wouldn't freak out, not when they were disoriented and groggy, memories of the facility fresh in their minds.

It only took a minute to make his way back. He opened the door, peering in and noticing that Sabo was up now, though it didn't look like he had been up for long.

"Ace?" The whisper clued him in even more to the fact that Sabo was extremely groggy, his voice layered with sleep.

"Yeah, it's me, don't worry." Ace muttered quietly, knowing Sabo would be able to hear him. Ace saw Sabo give a sigh of relief, sagging down a bit from where he was sitting up in the bed. Ace walked over to the bed now, climbing in carefully, not wanting to wake Luffy up.

"Where'd you go?" Sabo asked, laying back down, eyes closing.

"Just went outside for a bit." Ace said with a shrug, closing his own eyes now as he lay back down, though he didn't see himself getting any more sleep tonight.

"Mm... tonight's a bad night," Sabo said, stating the obvious with a sigh. Ace held back a scoff at that.

"No shit. Guess we're not going out tomorrow either." Ace said, a bit annoyed about that. He wanted to go to the island, he wanted to go eat in the galley, but because of these stupid nightmares, they would all be on edge, grouchy, and jumpy, which was not a good combination to be, especially not when they would be around a lot of people. One wrong move and the brothers would flip out and reveal something they would rather not. It was safer for everyone if they stayed in their room for the day, better for everyone to deem this another one of their bad days and let them be.

"Yeah, probably not." Sabo agreed, thinking back to the last time they'd had a bad day. That had been around when they first met the Whitebeards, when everything was still new to them. It hadn't been all that long ago, not even a whole month yet, but it felt like ages had passed since then.

The room lapsed into silence after that, and Ace was sure that Sabo had fallen back asleep. Luffy woke up not too long after, but Ace managed to get him to go back to sleep for a little while longer.

As the sun rose and Sabo and Luffy decided that they were going to remain awake the brothers also decided that they would stay in their room for the day. Thanks to the nightmares they were exactly how Ace and Sabo predicted they would be, tense, on edge, and jumpy.

Time passed slowly for them as they stayed in the room. The only interesting things that happened were Ace having narcolepsy attacks, and Thatch bringing them their meals. At one point Sabo heard Shirahoshi, her brothers, and Jinbe coming and asking where they were, but once the crew explained that today wasn't a good day they left, promising they would be back tomorrow and that they hoped the brothers felt better.

The morning slipped to noon, and then into night. Falling asleep wasn't difficult, all three of them were exhausted, bags under their eyes, so the second they lay down to sleep, they passed out immediately.

Time after that passed quickly. The next day came and the brothers were met with the princess, her brothers, and Jinbe, just as they had promised. Shirahoshi and her brothers wanted to get to know the brothers and thank them for everything, while Jinbe was there to escort them and make sure they didn't get into trouble.

Although they were a bit reluctant to go with a group that they didn't really know well, Luffy had convinced them to go and so they did. It had been a peaceful day and the group went wandering around the island, though the brothers were sure to steer clear of the shops, not wanting to run into any more doctors. Shirahoshi insisted they go to someplace called the sea forest, and they agreed to go after learning that no one would be over there. It was a beautiful place, and they stayed there for the rest of the day.

The brothers made quick friends with the princess and her brothers, though Jinbe was still a bit iffy to them. By the next day, Shirahoshi and her brothers returned once again, this time without Jinbe, and they once again left the Moby to go hang out together. Again, they spent the day together and the brothers found it easy to hang out with them. They never really had friends before besides each other, but after hanging out with the mermaid and men they were honestly able to say that they had become friends with them, despite the fact that Shirahoshi still annoyed Ace to no end with her incessant crying.

Finally, it was the final day, the day they were leaving. Shirahoshi and her brothers were there, along with Jinbe and King Neptune, all of them ready to see off the Whitebeard crew as they made their way back to the surface and into the New World. The crew was bustling around the brothers who stood at the railings, talking with Shirahoshi and her brothers as they waited to leave.

They hadn't stayed long, but it had been long enough to get close to their new friends, and now that they were leaving it was a bit sad for them to have to say goodbye. They knew they would most likely see them again, but that didn't make it any less painful to say goodbye.

Shirahoshi was, not surprisingly, crying while her brothers surrounded her, talking to Sabo. Ace was doing his best to not yell at the princess, not wanting to deal with Sabo's lecturing if he ended up doing something like that, and Luffy was smiling happily, laughing as he talked with Shirahoshi who, despite her sobs, was still chatting away with the youngest of the brothers.

"Ready to set sail!" The shout from one of the Whitebeards signaled that they needed to wrap up their goodbyes and only made Shirahoshi cry more.

"Thank you three once again for all of you're help. You'll always be welcome here on Fishman Island should you ever return, Jamon." Neptune said with a grateful smile. Sabo smiled to the king, bowing.

"It was no problem, and I'm sure we'll be back someday," Sabo said, Ace and Luffy nodding their agreement.

"And when you do we'll be here to take you to the palace for a visit!" Fukaboshi said with a smile, his brothers nodding their agreement.

"We sure will, la-ti-do~!" Ryuboshi sang, doing his strange dance from where he stood slightly behind his older brother.

"Yes, we will~!" Manboshi sang as well, also doing his dance. Luffy laughed happily at the dances and quirks of the princes while Sabo also thanked them as well. Finally, it was Shirahoshis turn to say goodbye, and through her sniffles and sobs, she managed to get out a soft goodbye. The brothers all easily said goodbye, minus Luffy because he didn't say goodbye to anyone, he knew he would see them again someday, and right as the ship was about to leave, Shirahoshi swam up to the railing, tilting the ship a bit from her weight.

"Y-you'll come back and visit someday right?" She asked, tears creating puddles on the ship's deck that left the crew freaking out, one of them calling for a mop.

"Of course!" Sabo said, sweat dropping as he watched the puddles grow in size.

"Promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky, and once again Sabo nodded, smiling as he touched her pinky with his, Luffy mimicking easily while Ace scoffed, but did it as well. Even the Princes came to join.

"We promise we'll be back, don't worry," Sabo said.

"Yeah, of course, we'll come back to visit someday!" Luffy cheered happily. Shirahoshi smiled, wiping away her tears with her free hand and nodding.

"When you do I'll be stronger so that you won't have to save me again!" Shirahoshi promised happily.

"Its a promise then!" Luffy agreed, nodding his head affirmatively, feeling the resolve spread throughout the giant princess. With that said Shirahoshi let go of the railing, the Moby once again shifting back into place while the crew let out a sigh of relief, a group already working hard to mop up the tears.

"Goodbye Luffy-san, Ace-san, Sabo-san!" Shirahoshi called, waving to them as the Moby left the port. The brothers waved back, Ace doing his best to not look too grumpy, and soon, they were out of Fishman Island and back into the murky depths of the sea.

The brothers, like always, stayed at the railing until Luffy and Sabo could no longer see the island in the distance, at which point they decided to go sit near Whitebeard. The Moby was slowly ascending to the surface, and according to some of the chattering pirates, it would take around a half hour to get back up safely. The brothers were actually a bit excited to get back to the surface, back to the real sky, not the one that they had seen for the past week on Fishman Island.

The crew milled around the deck, everyone having something to do in way of chores or other work they needed to have done, like cooking or keeping watch. It was then that the trio remembered just how easily they got bored when there was nothing to do but sit around. As minutes ticked by slowly the three did what they could to entertain themselves, Sabo listening in on conversations, Ace watching the surface get closer and closer, Luffy watching the fish swim by in amazement.

At one point, Ace had a narcolepsy attack, though it was easy to hide seeing as the eldest had already been laying against the railing. The only thing Sabo and Luffy did differently was focus their attention more on their surroundings. Sure, they had come to feel much closer and safer with the crew, but they still weren't ready to let them get too close when one of them couldn't do anything to defend themselves. No matter how trusting these pirates seemed to be they were still unsure of them.

Ace woke up soon after, eyes shooting open after having yet another nightmare. He tried to force the memory out, instead closing his eyes into barely open slits and trying to focus back on watching those around him, but it didn't matter how hard he tried, he could still see that damn doctor standing over him, asking him how he felt after yet another injection.

Scowling, Ace looked over towards Whitebeard, trying to find peace in being near the old man. Luffy seemed to be able to do it easily, although he could literally feel the peace coming from the man, but that was beside the point. It was nearly a month that they had been there, and they had said that they would give them an answer on whether or not they would join by then. So far, no one had done anything to make them not want to join, if anything, they only made them want to join more, but that also didn't sit well with Ace.

He was distrusting by nature, it was just who he was, so for him to make such a big decision in just the span of a month put more pressure on him then he would have liked. He needed more than a month to know if these guys were safe to hang around, he needed, at least, a hundred days to decide. Why a hundred? He didn't know, but it felt like a good number.

Regardless, he wasn't getting that time. They were pushing it with a month, he wouldn't ask for more time than that, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Even after telling them about the man he still refused to call his father they had been nothing but accepting. Sure, it had only been Marco and Whitebeard, but that wasn't the point. No one had ever accepted him, parents and all. The second someone even pondered the idea that the late pirate king could have a child, they sneered and demanded the child die. Demanded that he die.

For someone to accept him as a person, not a monster, it was different. Sure, Sabo and Luffy accepted him, but Luffy was a strange person, to begin with, and Sabo just wasn't one to judge.

Ever since they had brought up the fact to the pirates, they hadn't said a word about it. They hadn't told their crew, they hadn't spoken to each other about it, and they hadn't blabbed to any marine either, Sabo had listened in to make sure of that.

So were these people good? Or were they trying to get something from them? If so, what? And he couldn't forget about Teach either, the man that he wished he could kick off the crew immediately, but knew he couldn't. True to his word, Whitebeard had been keeping an eye on the bastard, even now when he wasn't even on the ship. He had believed them when they mentioned he was dangerous, and that spoke volumes to the brothers that, despite knowing his crew better then he knew them, he still listened to them, still took precautions against the man.

But what was Teach after? A man with as black an aura as Luffy had described could be up to nothing good, that was for sure, but for the life of them, the brothers didn't know what it was.

Breaking out of his thoughts Ace listened as there was a loud crashing of waves around them. The Moby broke to the surface of the water and the bubble around them disappearing. Birds flew overhead, the sun shone brightly, and only a handful of clouds dotted the sky. It was peaceful, it was quiet, and it was calm.

Whatever Teach was up to could wait until another day. Their decision on whether they wanted to join or not could wait as well.

For now, they were going to enjoy the peace and calm while they could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> This chapter was more of a filler chapter and pretty short, but that's mostly because, soon, we'll be transitioning into something else. In just a few more days, the brothers will have to decide whether they want to join the Whitebeards officially or not, something that they're still up in the air about. Its a big decision for the three, and we'll see more of their thoughts on the subject in the coming chapters.
> 
> I think the last few days of Fishman Island was a bit too rushed for my liking, but I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted it to go and after many revisions, this is what I came up with. Not the best, but its alright. I thought about writing more in depth about their final days on the island, but I didn't want to spend too much time on Fishman Island, especially when I know all of you are excited about the brothers telling the Whitebeards about themselves. Originally, there was going to be two more chapters on Fishman Island, but that felt like overkill to me.


	54. Pesky Narcolepsy

Waking up was a slow-going process in the brothers' room. Even though breakfast was ready, even though Sabo could hear the mutterings of the crew wondering where they were at, even though the delicious smells wafted to Luffy's nose, none of them could find it in themselves to get up to go eat.

Ace was still snoring away beside the two. Although he had been woken up four times now, each time he had just fallen right back asleep. They couldn't blame him really, yesterday hadn't been a good day for him in terms of narcolepsy attacks. He had a few more than he usually would and they left him exhausted. Sabo and Luffy, however, were just lazy.

"We should go eat," Sabo said, but despite his words, he didn't move.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, also not showing any signs of moving anytime soon. They both stared at the ceiling for a minute before Sabo sighed, flinging his arm out across Luffy and hitting Ace in the chest.

"Oi, Ace, get up, we have to go eat," Sabo said, and Ace woke up, startled by the sudden impact on his chest.

"Wha-?" He asked, blinking slowly as he sat up, looking around.

"Food," Sabo said simply, and although Ace looked tempted by the idea, he also looked tired. His tired eyes closed slowly and opened even slower. Sabo was pretty sure that if nothing was done, he would fall asleep sitting up.

Sighing, Sabo pushed himself up, ignoring the complaints in his head telling him to just lay back down and sleep a little while longer. There wasn't any real reason they had to be up now other then breakfast, but Sabo didn't want to worry the crew if they didn't show up.

"Come on, I think Thatch is getting ready to come check on us. They think we're having another bad day." Sabo said, hearing the Commanders talk amongst themselves, wondering if the brothers were going to stay locked away again today.

"Let them, we can sleep then." Ace said, falling back onto the mattress. Sabo frowned, turning to glare at the oldest.

"Ace, I swear to Kami, if you fall asleep right now I'm gonna tell Thatch to limit your servings." Sabo threatened. As much as Ace wanted to sleep, his love for food overpowered that and he shot up in bed, eyes open while Luffy laughed beside him.

"There, was that so hard? Now, let's go, maybe if we start moving we'll wake up more." Sabo said, standing up and turning to practically drag Luffy out of the bed, Ace helping. The rubber boy slumped to the ground with a groan, Sabo holding his now stretching arm. Letting it go it recoiled back to the youngest with a snap and Sabo put his hands on his hips, frowning again.

"Seriously, you two are like children. Luffy, don't make me limit your servings too." Sabo said, making Luffy groan, but slowly push himself up. The blonde rolled his eyes and shook his head at the theatrics, heading to the door. Ace and Luffy followed a bit slowly, but Sabo had been right, once they were out of their bed, they felt more awake. Along with feeling more awake, they also felt more hungry, and soon they outpaced Sabo, making their way quickly to the galley and practically leaving Sabo behind who huffed.

"Oh, there you three are! We were beginning to think you weren't gonna show!" Fossa said, smiling to the brothers who sat down at the table. Sabo smiled to them, Ace and Luffy already shoveling food into their mouths.

"I had a bit of trouble getting these two out of bed was all," Sabo said, jabbing a thumb to his brothers as he picked up his fork to start eating as well.

"Hey, you didn't want to move either!" Ace said indignantly, to which Sabo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but I got up without any threats necessary, unlike you two," Sabo said, not even looking to Ace who scoffed at him.

"Threats?" Kingdew asked, all of the Commanders curious as to what Sabo meant.

"Nothing lethal if that's what you're thinking. I just told them I would tell Thatch to limit their servings which was enough to get them up and moving." Sabo said with a shrug. Some of the Commanders laughed at that, Whitebeard smiling from where he sat at the head of the table.

"They sure do love food a lot!" Vista noticed.

"Always have, always will. They've always had big appetites." Sabo said, remembering their days back on their home island when they had to hunt multiple animals just to satisfy the brothers' hunger.

"It's not surprising when you think about who you're grandfather is. Garp can eat just as much as those two, if not more!" Haruta mentioned, watching the two eating. Sabo chuckled at that, nodding.

"You're right about that." He said. The Commanders split into their own conversations after that, Thatch joining in soon after. Sabo listened per usual, not forcing himself into any one conversation, but preparing himself in case anyone decided they wanted him to join in. Luffy and Ace seemed wide awake now, the two of them eating with their normal gusto, and Sabo could feel that even he was awake now. Apparently, they were just having a lazy morning. It wouldn't be all that surprising, especially since they had all been a bit on edge ever since seeing the doctors coat on Fishman Island.

Breakfast began to finish up and the brothers left to go sit near Whitebeard. Suddenly Sabo's mind wandered to the fact that it had nearly been an entire month of being with the Whitebeards, being free of the facility that had tormented them for years on end.

Ace had mentioned it yesterday, but they hadn't really discussed it much. In just two days they would have to give Whitebeard their decision on whether or not they wanted to officially join the crew or not.

Sabo let himself get lost in thought on the matter, trying to weigh the pros and cons, trying to find reasons they shouldn't possibly stay, trying to find reasons they absolutely should stay. Of course, they would all talk about this in more detail tomorrow with each other, and even the day after, because none of them wanted to agree to stay if they were just going to regret it immediately.

Sitting on the railing, their usual pass time, was becoming more and more boring for the three. Even though Sabo was distracted with his thoughts, Ace and Luffy still weren't doing much. Luffy was trying his best to let the clouds and ocean entertain him, but his limbs ached to be stretched, to extend as far as possible. The few times he'd had the chance to had been glorious, but now he was back to forcing himself to remain normal, to give no indication that he had a devil fruit.

Even though no one on the crew had even an inkling that the brothers possessed devil fruits they had to stay cautious, Sabo had said so. Even though they had seen Luffy treading water all that time ago, they still had to be careful with what they showed. Luffy knew that Ace was having the same problem as him, the eldest's fire just itching to rise to the surface, but he controlled himself too.

If Ace could do it, Luffy could too.

That doesn't mean he was happy about it though.

Luffy pouted as he stared at his feet which were swinging freely in the air. If they joined would he be able to stretch? Surely he would because then that would mean they trusted the crew enough to know about their powers. However, Luffy didn't want to join just so he could use his powers freely. Sure, it would be a plus, but Luffy didn't want to join solely because of that, he wanted to join when he knew that he could trust the crew to keep him and his brothers safe, without doing anything to hurt them.

They'd kept so much from the pirates, kept so many secrets from them, that Luffy didn't even know that, even if they joined and they told them everything, how they would react. Would they suddenly change their minds once they knew about their powers? Once they knew about what the facility did to them?

He knew Whitebeard wouldn't, Marco either, and maybe not Thatch and Izo, but everyone else was still up in the air to him. It was impossible for Luffy to get a good read on everyone on the ship without having to get close to them, and they hadn't been there long enough for that to be possible. With more time, Luffy would definitely be able to determine that, but for now, he only had a general feeling that most people on the Moby were good people.

Luffy sighed quietly, ignoring the feeling of sudden worry coming from Ace.

'Why don't we go talk to Thatch?' Sabo suddenly tapped, shocking Luffy as he looked over to the blonde who was smiling to him.

'You said we might be able to trust him, right? Like Marco and Whitebeard?' Sabo asked, Luffy nodding minutely in response.

'Then let's go make sure.' Sabo said. Luffy beamed happily, ready to do anything as long as it was entertaining, and he spun around, planting his feet on the deck and standing. Ace stretched, once again putting on the act of having just woken up, and stood as well, ruffling Luffys hair as he did so. Sabo stood as well and took a second to listen for the chef, finding that he wasn't too far away. He was out on the deck, a bit closer to the galley. He was doing... something. Sabo couldn't quite figure it out with sound alone, but it sounded a bit like he was scrapping something.

Shrugging it off, Sabo began leading his brothers his way, and soon he was able to see the man sitting against the railing, sharpening his knives.

Well, that made more sense.

Sabo smiled in greeting as they got closer and Thatch beamed happily back. He'd always seemed interested in the brothers, and not in a bad way. He always seemed like he genuinely wanted to get to know them better, and according to Luffy, he was always more than happy whenever they went up to talk to him. Now, didn't seem to be any different as the brothers sat beside the chef, Ace doing his best to keep the scowl off his face as he saw the many eyes on them. It wasn't often that they did anything other than sitting on the railing, so it was no surprise that they had garnered the attention of most of the crew by coming to sit with Thatch.

"Hello Thatch." Sabo greeted, still smiling to the chef.

"Hey! What's up?" Thatch asked, curious as to why the brothers were suddenly sitting and chatting with him. It wasn't often they went and initiated conversations with anyone, and when they did it was with Marco or Pops.

"Not much, it was just getting a bit boring sitting on the railing, you know?" Sabo asked, turning to look at the deck, the crew avoiding his gaze and pretending to be suddenly busy. The blonde held back a laugh at that.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that would get pretty boring, huh?" Thatch asked, also turning to look at the deck. The chef wasn't quite sure if he should continue the conversation or wait and let Sabo do it himself. Normally the brothers didn't like to be bothered, and when they initiated conversations they normally had something they wanted to talk about, but as the silence stretched on Thatch realized that maybe he should speak. Or maybe they wanted silence?

"I like your hair! It's poofy!" Luffy suddenly piped up, shocking Thatch from his thoughts. His feelings of turmoil quickly slipped away as another smile graced his face, turning to look at the youngest of the brothers excitedly.

"Thanks, you know, I use this special gel to make it this poofy!" He said proudly, touching the extended hair gently with a hand.

"Really?! Can you make my hair poofy like that too?!" Luffy asked excitedly, practically bouncing where he sat. Thatch chuckled at that, noticing that the older two brothers were watching him with looks that didn't give away their emotions. Sure, Sabo had a bit of a smile on, but his eyes told him that he was feeling more then he was showing. What he was feeling, though, he had no idea.

"I don't think you have enough hair, but maybe if you grow it out it would work!" Thatch said, looking at Luffy's short hair. He remembered when they had first taken the brothers in, how all of their hair had been long and unkempt. He had nearly forgotten about that, though it hadn't been all that long ago.

The conversation continued between Luffy and Thatch over the course of an hour. Sometimes Sabo would join in, and rarely Ace would make a comment as well, but for the most part, the older two remained quiet, watching. After the hour ended though, Thatch had to, regretfully, bid the brothers goodbye.

"Sorry, but I have to go start lunch now. It was nice talking to you three!" The chef said, standing. The brothers stood up as well, Sabo's small smile growing in size as he said his goodbyes.

"Its no problem Thatch, thank you for talking with us," Sabo said, Luffy nodding and waving happily.

"I liked talking with you, Thatch! Bye!" The youngest called. Thatch smiled and waved back, turning to walk to the kitchen.

'So... back to the railing?' Ace asked, looking around the deck. Marco and some of the other Commanders were standing near Whitebeards chair, only Namur, Rakuyo and Jiru missing from the group. And Thatch as well, obviously.

'Guess so. Lunch should be soon so that's a good thing.' Sabo replied with a bit of a shrug, already beginning to walk away. Luffy and Ace walked next to him, Luffy in between them like normal, and they made their way over quietly.

They were almost there when it happened. They were just nearing Whitebeard when Ace felt the sudden tug of exhaustion fog his mind. Luffy could feel Aces feelings become muted like they normally did whenever someone went to sleep, and Sabo could hear Aces normal breathing become much slower and deeper. In a matter of seconds, Ace went from walking and awake to falling and asleep.

Sabo and Luffy both moved into action, the youngest grabbing Aces arm in an attempt to slow his fall while Sabo rushed around Luffy, grabbing the fire users head to prevent any injury to it in his fall.

The sudden noise around them clued them into the fact that everyone was beginning to freak out, having just seen Ace suddenly collapse in front of them. Sabo cursed silently as he heard the Commanders rushing over and saw Luffy looking at him with wide, scared eyes.

They hadn't told anyone about Aces narcolepsy, and now they were going to have to face the consequences of that decision.

Sabo heard Izo tell someone to call Whiskey and his worry began to increase. Luffy and Sabo both knew that Ace was fine, they both knew that this was just a normal narcolepsy attack, but the rest of the crew didn't know that, and by the looks, on their faces, they were worried that this could be a lot more serious then it was. Sabo could even see Whitebeard watching them carefully, a look of worry in his eyes as he gripped the arms of his chair a bit too tightly.

Normally whenever Ace had attacks he had a bit of warning, but apparently, this one had happened so suddenly he hadn't had a chance to warn them of it.

"What happened, yoi?" Marco asked as he came to kneel beside Ace with the brothers. The Commanders stood behind him, but not too close, giving them space. Sabo didn't know how to respond, because he knew what had happened, but should he tell them? Surely he should, to stop all of this chaos, to make them realize this wasn't that big a deal, but he was stopped from answering when Whiskey ran up to them, dropping to her knees as she looked to him and Luffy.

"What happened here?" She asked, unknowingly repeating Marcos question. Luffy looked to Sabo, not knowing what to say, not knowing what his brothers would want him to say. He could feel the anxiety and fear in Sabo, and he could feel the muted fear from Ace. The eldest was probably having another nightmare, and that wasn't going to be good when he woke up.

"We were walking and he suddenly fell," Sabo said after a minute of internal debate over what he should say. He knew he should just tell them what happened, tell them that Ace had narcolepsy, but the fear of everyone suddenly knowing his brother's disease kept him from saying it. The fear of what Whiskey might do if she knew that they had kept the condition from her, even after she had asked them in the beginning if they had any medical issues.

Normally Sabo was the logical one, but in this situation, all of his logic was thrown out the window.

"His breathing sounds ok, his heart too, Marco, carry him to the infirmary for me, I'll need to check him out ther-" Whiskey was cut off when Ace suddenly let out a gasp, shooting upwards with eyes open wide in panic. Sabo vaguely heard Luffy tap to him that their brother had had a nightmare as Whiskey and Marco backed up a little to avoid getting headbutted by the now awake Ace.

The raven looked around in confusion for a minute before seeming to figure out what had happened. Sabo and Luffy both had a look of fear that made Ace suddenly realize that there was a nurse at his side, as well as the first commander. Not to mention, the hundreds of eyes on them.

"Are you alright? Does anything hurt? Head, eyes, chest?" Whiskey suddenly asked. Fighting the sneer, fighting the urge to yell that he was just fine, Ace swallowed, his lips twitching a bit downward.

"No, nothin' hurts, 'm fine." Ace said, his speech just a bit slurred, and he cursed himself for that. He was trying to get the nurse off his back, not justify her claims that he was not ok.

"I'd like to do a check-up if you don't mind, just to make sure you're ok." She said, and the brothers could sense that it wasn't really a suggestion like she made it sound. It was more of a demand, and that only put them all even more on edge.

"Can you walk?" She continued, not letting the brothers think for even a second. Ace, still not knowing what he should do, only nodded and began pushing himself off the ground, his brothers standing with him. Marco and Whiskey stood as well and the group began making their way to the infirmary, Marco heading towards Whitebeard instead.

The brothers were actually a bit dismayed to see him walk away. Even though they didn't want anyone knowing about Aces narcolepsy, they also didn't want to be left alone with a bunch of nurses. Marco was someone they knew they could trust, someone they knew was safe, and his presence in the infirmary would definitely have helped.

It was too late to change anything now though as they all made their way into the hallways leading to the infirmary. Sabo could hear the immediate uproar on deck as people began discussing what had happened, all of them trying to figure out what happened in the first place.

The blonde sighed and could see Luffy fumbling with the hem of his shirt nervously, no doubt the smell of medicine and rubbing alcohol already reaching his nose. Ace was clenching and unclenching his hands nervously, and Sabo was no better off than his brothers, hands twitching at his side.

The walk was made silently and within seconds they were entering the infirmary they had come to know a little too well. Whiskey gestured to a bed in the front, telling them to wait for her there as she went to a cabinet and pulled a paper out, attaching it to her clipboard as she grabbed a few tools for the check-up. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy watched her movements carefully, not daring to look away for even a second, while also being aware that there was also a multitude of other nurses in the room with them.

Whiskey returned quickly, scribbling something down before looking at Ace with a smile.

"I know you guys don't like it here, so I'll try to be quick. Just explain to me what happened while I take a look at you're reflexes as well as make sure everything else is fine as well." Whiskey said, clicking a tiny flashlight on that she began shining in Aces eyes, moving it back and forth while instructing him to follow it.

"Well, uh, we were just walking back to the railing after talking to Thatch, and then Ace fell unconscious," Sabo said reluctantly. There was no use trying to hide the information or lie, after all, everyone on deck had seen the whole thing.

"Has this happened before?" She asked. There was more silence as the brothers mulled over their options. They could just not answer, but that would be answer enough. They could answer truthfully, but that would just lead to more questions, as well as the inevitable conclusion that Ace had narcolepsy. They could lie about it, but then Whiskey would probably keep them here to make sure things were fine, and still might even find out about the narcolepsy regardless.

So what choice did they really have? Even if they told the truth, told her about the narcolepsy, that would just end in her being mad at them for not telling her in the first place.

'Ace, what do you want me to say?' Sabo asked the eldest, knowing that, ultimately, it was his decision. Ace's lips thinned, Whiskey still waiting for an answer, and thought. He had already come to the same conclusions that Sabo had, and it was just a matter of choosing which evil he wanted to face.

Of course, Ace had to take into account that in just a couple of days they would also be making a decision on whether they wanted to join the crew or not, and if they did join, they would have to tell them about his condition anyways. Maybe it would just be better to get it off their chests now rather than later when it would be an even bigger issue.

'Just... tell her.' Ace finally decided, much to his brothers' surprise. He wasn't happy about this, not one bit, but it would have happened eventually. After telling Whitebeard and Marco about his father, this should be a walk in the park, but this felt different. When they'd told the Captain and first mate about his father it had been their choice, they had decided amongst themselves, in their own time, to tell people that they trusted.

Now, however, they were practically being forced to give up information they weren't yet ready to share, and to someone that they trusted the least on this entire ship, of course, not including Teach.

Sabo, still in a bit of shock, turned to look at the nurse, preparing himself for whatever was going to happen now that they revealed the information they'd held for so long.

"I-it, uh, has happened before," Sabo said a bit nervously, though trying his best to keep from showing just how nervous this whole thing made him. Whiskey seemed to notice the nervousness and raised an eyebrow, writing more information down.

"Do you know how many times?" She asked, and Sabo was tempted to just tell her outright that it was narcolepsy that caused this to stop any further questioning, but he couldn't find it in himself to say it just yet, instead opting to answer the question.

"No, it's happened... it's happened a lot." He said, waiting for the anger that he was sure was going to come. Luffy was watching the nurse intently, watching her aura for any sudden hints of gray or even black, while also keeping a read on her emotions for any anger or malice towards his brothers.

"A lot? As in a couple? A handful? A dozen?" She asked, needing more specific information than that.

"More like a couple hundred..." Sabo mumbled but was loud and clear enough for the nurse to understand. It was true though, that Ace had had hundreds of attacks. They didn't always used to be as frequent when they were children, but after everything that had happened in the facility his attacks had become much more frequent.

Whiskey had gone silent at that, and the brothers watched as her lips thinned a bit. Luffy could feel a hint of anger beginning to take form in the nurse, causing him to shift nervously away from her and closer to Sabo. The two of them were sitting on the bed with Ace, but Luffy had positioned himself the furthest away from the nurse in fear that something like this would start to happen.

"Alright, when did it start?" She asked, not even looking up at them anymore, only focusing on her clipboard.

'She's getting a little angry.' Luffy tapped quietly, his eyes slightly larger, rounder, in fear. Sabo wrapped an arm around Luffy, squeezing his brothers shoulder comfortingly. They had all expected this, knew this was going to happen, so this wasn't surprising, just nerve-wracking.

"Ever since I was a kid." Ace grumbled, having also taken notice to Luffy's sudden rise in fear and unease.

"Before or after the facility." She asked, the brothers flinching at the mention of that place.

"Before." He answered quickly, anger laced in his tone at the memories that were brought up.

"Did you ever get examined for this before?" She continued, crossing something out on the paper. Ace didn't really know how to answer that. He hadn't been allowed to go to the village and there was no way in hell doctors in that stupid noble town were gonna take a look at him, but the bandits had checked on him after his first few attacks. They had been the ones to figure out that he had narcolepsy, but they weren't exactly doctors.

"Not exactly. Didn't visit a lot of doctors, but our... caretakers took care of it." Ace said, not sure how to phrase it. Of course by taking care of it, Ace meant that they told him what it was and left him to deal with it, but that was how they dealt with everything.

"Does that mean you know what this is?" Whiskey asks, finally lowering the clipboard as she looked at the brothers, finally noticing the looks of hesitation and fear on their faces. The fear, however, was easier to see on Luffy then it was on Ace or Sabo, who did a much better job of hiding it.

That didn't mean she didn't notice it though.

She sighed, realizing that she might have just screwed up a bit. They all knew of the brothers' deathly fear of doctors, they knew they were hiding things from them, knew that they were cautious about any information that they gave out, and yet she had gone and pressured it out of them. She had gotten mad, not at them exactly, but she had still gotten mad and put them in a state of fear that she hadn't intended on doing.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you three really, I'm just... upset that you kept something like this from us. The reason I asked in the beginning if you had preexisting medical conditions was to make sure I didn't make them any worse when giving you three any medical care that you might need. I'm just upset that I could have possibly harmed you further because I didn't know about this from the beginning." She said, tone apologetic as she spoke.

"I'm sorry if I scared you or pressured information out of you, it wasn't my intention." She finished, leaving the brothers a bit calmer, but a lot more surprised. Luffy quickly confirmed that she was telling the truth, leaving the three back to square one with what they knew about the nurses.

Back at the facility doctors took and forced information out of them with no remorse. They got results they wanted no matter the consequences, and here they were, sitting in front of a nurse who was apologizing for doing what they had come to know as normal, _expected_ even. Sure, the facility was full of sick, twisted people, and sure, they knew that they shouldn't believe that every doctor or nurse would act the same way that the ones in the facility had, but it was difficult to suddenly change the mindset that all doctors were evil.

After all, if you were told that apples were red your entire life, saw with your own two eyes that it was true, and then suddenly be told that, no, apples are actually purple, would you be all that willing to believe it?

"I-its alright, its partially our fault for not mentioning it in the first place," Sabo said hesitantly. This was new territory for all of them. They knew that Whiskey wasn't that bad a person, that she wasn't like the other doctors, but every time they met with her, all previous interactions were wiped from their minds and all they saw was the big bad evil doctor that was out to get them.

Maybe they should try working on fixing that...

"That may be the case, and it is, but I still should have taken into account you're previous experiences with doctors and nurses alike. Again, I'm truly sorry." Whiskey repeated, sounding sincere as she apologized to the brothers. They sat in stunned silence for a minute before Ace suddenly spoke up.

"Narcolepsy." He said, confusing the nurse.

"I have narcolepsy." He elaborated, Whiskeys face lighting up in realization. She quickly wrote something down, a hint of a smile on her face as she did, and nodded.

"Were you taking any medication to help it?" She asked, the eldest shaking his head.

"No, I always just dealt with it." He said, the trio slowly getting over their shock as the conversation progressed.

"Did it get better or worse after your time in the facility?" Whiskey questioned, face back down int the clipboard.

"Worse, he had attacks a lot more often. Sometimes multiple times a day. He used to only have them once every once in a while." Sabo said, knowing that Aces memory about his attacks was always a little fuzzy, especially when the doctors would knock him out with drugs and he couldn't tell what was an attack and what was the result of a drug.

"And are they any better since you've been out?" Whiskey continued.

"Yeah, I only ever have them once in a day like before, but they still happen more often then they used to. Sometimes days in a row." Ace answered. A few more questions were asked, like if he had dreams when he had attacks, if he hallucinated before or after them, if he ever woke up paralyzed, and after they answered everything Whiskey sighed, placing her pencil down and looking at the brothers.

"Well, that should be everything. Is there anything else I should know?" She asked, eyeing them all with a raised eyebrow, though she was smiling a bit to ease the tension. Sabo remembered Aces fast healing, but that wasn't something they were ready to mention just yet. Along with the fact that two of them had devil fruit abilities.

"No, that was the only thing for now. However, there are a few more things, but you won't know those unless we join the crew." Sabo said, wanting to prevent any more anger from the nurse in the future.

It was true though because the only way they would tell her about those was if they were apart of the crew, which was still something they were deciding on. Whiskey didn't look pleased to hear this, and Sabo gave her a sheepish look.

"I promise its nothing you could harm with medication, at least, I don't think so. Besides, we'll be making the decision within a few days." Sabo explained, ready for this to be over. They had been in there for nearly half an hour now and Luffy's nose was definitely starting to become too bothersome for him. The youngest kept discreetly trying to rub and mess with his nose, even going as far as to bury his face in Sabo's sleeve to try and block the scent from burning the sensitive appendage.

"I'll let it go this once, but you have to promise to tell me, alright?" She asked, seeming genuinely concerned about their health. Sabo nodded at that, promising despite their fear of doctors and nurses, and Whiskey sighed.

"In that case, you're good to go then. If you want, we can look into getting you medication that would help reduce how often you have attacks, although it's not a guarantee that it will help." Whiskey said to Ace. Ace thought about it for a second before shaking his head.

"I've been just fine without it, thanks for the offer though." He said, and Sabo was proud that his brother hadn't been rude throughout this entire ordeal. Whiskey smiled at them, nodding.

"It was no problem. Thank you for telling me about this. One more thing before you go though. Seeing as you three aren't yet apart of the crew officially I have no obligation to tell Oyaji about this. However, should you three decide to officially join I would have to tell him about this for safety reasons. None of the Commanders would know, not unless its a matter of emergency, but I just thought you should know." She said, standing and heading back to the filing cabinet she'd gotten the paper form, filing it away carefully.

"We understand. Thank you for explaining." Sabo said gratefully. She nodded, telling them they were free to go, and the brothers practically bolted for the doors.

Hopefully, it would be a very, very long time until they needed to be in there again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> The decision to join is coming soon, only two days away now. The brothers haven't really talked over the decision much yet, but in the next chapter they will be going into more depth on whether or not they want to join officially or not. There are a lot of pros to the brothers joining, but there are also some cons that they have to think about.
> 
> Also, to everyone wondering if Luffy will still want to be King of the Pirates and have his own crew, rest assured that that is still the plan. Luffys dream is to be the freest man on the seas, and in order to do that, he'd need to become the king which he cant do if hes apart of the Whitebeards.


	55. Thinking Things Through

It was the day before their big decision.

Tomorrow, the brothers would have to decide whether or not they wanted to officially join the Whitebeard pirates or not. It was a decision that held a lot of significance for the three, not just because they would be bound to the crew, bound to the Captain, but because they would be obligated to give information that they didn't know if they were ready to share or not.

They could always lie, make an elaborate story about how, sure the facility was bad, but they hadn't done anything life altering to the boys. Sure, they'd been there for seven years of their life, but they weren't given any weird powers or anything. They weren't tested on, they weren't forced to watch children die day after day, they weren't forced to eat disgusting soup because it was their only source of nutrition.

Sure, they could say none of that had happened, they could continue hiding their powers, continue hiding the fact that they spent day after passing day plotting a way to escape, but that would be too dangerous. What if they found out about the lie? What if the marines finally sent out news about what had happened in the facility? Seeing as it was a government-run facility there was zero chance of that happening, but there was always a possibility that someone with too much information got to the press before they could stop it.

So making this decision was an extremely difficult decision.

The brothers sat on the railing, breakfast having long passed and lunch coming up faster then they could keep up with. Time ticked away in hours that felt like minutes, all of them lost in thought. Normally they would be keeping a high alert for anyone getting too close, would use all their senses together to keep a safe bubble around themselves, but today they were all too deep in thought to even attempt that. It was a good thing Teach wasn't there because this would be the perfect time to attack.

They sat close to Whitebeard, maybe even closer than normal, finding comfort in the man they knew could be trusted. Marco stood close by as well, keeping an eye on the brothers, and they didn't mind. After yesterdays incident with Ace, Marco had been watching them carefully, practically waiting to see Ace go tumbling again. Luffy confirmed that the man was only worried, not waiting for a chance to attack like Ace had begun suspecting, and they let him watch, knowing that they weren't paying enough attention to watch themselves at the moment.

Sabo had heard Whiskey from the safety of their room last night briefly explain to the Captain and Commanders that Ace was alright, that nothing life-threatening was at play, and it had calmed them down from the panic they had been in. Of course, as promised, she didn't mention anything about the fact that he had narcolepsy, instead saying that it was doctor-patient confidentiality information that they weren't allowed to know unless Ace himself told them.

Thatch, after finding out about what happened, had become a bit of a worrywart, making the brothers snacks in between lunch, and even bringing them dessert as well after dinner which was unexpected. Of course, they didn't complain and took the food gratefully, but Sabo made sure to thank the chef and tell him it wasn't necessary to go out of his way to make them the snacks.

Sabo sighed as he watched the waves crash against the Moby. He knew this would be good for them, just like agreeing to stay with the Whitebeards indefinitely was good for them, but that didn't mean it was any less scary to think about giving up that tiny piece of freedom they had worked so hard to get.

Sure, they would still be free, free to go to islands, free to sleep in a bed, free to eat meals, but they would have to answer to Whitebeard, give up the freedom of doing as they pleased without worry. Now, they wouldn't just be going around as themselves, they would be going around as official members of the Whitebeard pirates. They would always have the strength of Whitebeard behind them, but they would have to take on the obligations of a crew member.

They'd always dreamed of being pirates, but whenever they imagined it, this scenario had never crossed their minds. It had always been thought that they would be pirate captains, Captains of their very own crew, and here they were, contemplating whether they were going to follow under a Captain they had only come to know over the course of a month.

Luffy was having many of the same thoughts because he had made a promise to Shanks to build a crew up that would one day beat his in his journey to become the pirate king. He still fully intended on doing just that, his dream was to become Pirate King, no matter what, but if he joined this crew, would he still be able to keep that promise? Was his decision already made for him? No matter how much he liked the old Captain, how much he like the First Commander, even how much he was beginning to like Thatch and Izo and some of the others, he wouldn't join because of that if it meant giving up his life long dream.

But what if he could accomplish both? Would he join if that was an option? If he could become his own Captain later and become the Pirate King like promised, would he join the crew?

The questions swam around Luffy's head, becoming muddled. Of course, he had to take into account the fact that this would mean being on the same crew as Teach, someone he knew for a fact was no good, but if he joined he would be able to protect those he was beginning to trust better.

Vaguely, Luffy could smell food wafting over to him. Lunch was nearly done, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Ace watched the crew chatting, laughing, cleaning. He could see that they, at least on the surface, cared about each other. It was a big crew, it was inevitable you'd find at least one person you liked here, but on the flip side that just meant you'd also find people you disliked. Despite this, no one looked like they hated each other. They all greeted each other with the same smile, they all used kind words, they all helped others out with chores.

It was weird to Ace, a normally hot-headed and hard to get along with person, to ponder the idea that here, everyone got along. Surely there were fights every once in a while, that was inevitable with a crew this size, but for no one to have any obvious disdain for another crewmember baffled him.

Had he become a Captain like he had planned so long ago he wouldn't tolerate his crew not getting along with one another, and he supposed it would be the same here, so why did it confuse him so much?

Was he just looking for reasons to not want to stay? The idea of staying indefinitely had been hard for him to agree with, but he had eventually agreed after admitting that it would be better if they did, but did that mean they had to join to get the full benefits of being with the Whitebeard Pirates? Did they have to anchor themselves to this crew permanently?

What happens when they get betrayed? When the crew turns on them? They would be unable to leave because they had agreed to join.

Making this decision was going to be the hardest for Ace because he knew everything was at risk here. This was the make or break point, the point of no return, because if they agreed, then they would finally find out whether the pirates were acting or not, whether this was an elaborate plan to get them to join just so they would be tethered here, unable to leave.

Their shitty gramps had mentioned briefly that these were good people, and that was a lot seeing as he hated pirates, or at least seemed to anyway, but the facility had been a government-run building, so whose to say that Garp hadn't set them up?

Great, now he was beginning to distrust even his own grandfather. Even though the man was hard to get along with, rarely came to visit, and had questionable teaching methods, he was still family. This decision was too much for Ace to be thinking about right now.

Looking down at his hands, Ace began picking at his nails, a frown on his face. Even as he tried to think of something else, anything else, all he could think of was what could happen tomorrow.

Giving a frustrated sigh Ace dropped his hands at his sides, looking at his outstretched legs. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why did the Marines have to a bunch of no good dirty bastards?

He and his brothers hadn't done a single criminal act in their life- he wasn't counting all the dine-n-dashes and pick pocketing back home seeing as it was either do that and survive, or don't and die- and yet they were all already condemned to death despite this. Sure, they had planned on being pirates, but that wasn't a crime, not yet anyway.

All three brothers were so lost in thought that they didn't even notice that lunch was now ready and the deck was slowly becoming more and more empty as the crew filtered into the galley. They probably never would have noticed had Marco not walked towards them.

Seeing the Commander's sandaled feet growing closer Ace remembered he was supposed to be sleeping, so he forcibly relaxed his posture and deepened his breathing, hoping the First Commander hadn't noticed the fact that he had been awake, although, knowing his luck, he had. After all, the man had been watching them closely for the past few hours now.

"Hello, Commander," Sabo said, reverting back to the title rather than the man's name. He had noticed Aces sudden change and realized that someone was probably getting close, snapping him from his thoughts. Luffy, almost disorientedly, turned to look at the man as he stopped a few feet away from them.

"Lunch is ready, I was wondering if you three were coming." He said an eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other. Sabo turned as well now, giving Marco a small smile.

"We are, thank you." He said a bit shortly. Sabo knew that the man was only concerned for them, worried they were going to think themselves to death out here, and they probably would, but with tomorrow looming over their heads food felt like an inconvenience. However, Sabo knew it was something they needed, so regrettably, he stood, Luffy following suit and Ace stretching.

Marco nodded at them, giving them one more look that didn't show what he was feeling, before turning to head to the galley. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were left out on the deck, only a few who were on watch remaining outside with them.

"Thinking sucks." Ace grumbled, rubbing his forehead. Already, half their day had been dedicated to just thinking, and Ace didn't know if he liked that thought or not.

"Thinkings important, but I think ours is getting a bit out of hand," Sabo said with a sigh, also massaging his temple. Luffy remained silent from where he stood in between the brothers, but even he looked tired for someone who had only woken up not all that long ago.

"Have you two come to any conclusion?" Sabo asked as they began a slow walk toward the galley. They all knew they had been thinking about the same thing, it wasn't that hard to figure out, and maybe if they talked out loud about it they would be able to organize their thoughts better and come to a conclusion faster then if they tried solving the issue on their own.

"None here." Ace muttered almost bitterly.

"Me neither," Luffy said softly as well. Sabo sighed, not really having expected them to.

"Yeah, I didn't either." Sabo reluctantly agreed, pushing open the door and ending their conversation as the sounds of laughter and conversation filtered to their ears. The smell of food lingered in the air and the joyful, happy spirit was a harsh contrast to the brothers' gloomy, heavy mood. They went to the usual table, this time sitting beside Vista, and were quickly greeted with their own plate of food that they began picking at.

Of course, the Commanders and Captain easily picked up on something being wrong with the brothers, because any other time they would start chowing down, but all day the brothers had been quieter and more subdued than normal. Sure, they weren't talkative by any means, and they normally sat on the railing for most of the day, but today had been different.

Any other time, Sabo and Luffy would be happily pointing out clouds or watching the waves peacefully while Ace slept calmly behind them. Today, however, Sabo and Luffy were fidgety, and not a single smile graced their faces as they solemnly watched the waves. It hadn't passed any of their attention either that Ace was fidgety like he couldn't get comfortable the entire time he sat there with his brothers. There had been a solemn air around the three that deterred anyone from trying to get too close.

And now they weren't all that interested in eating.

Normally they would chalk it up to a bad day, but when the brothers had a bad day they normally shut themselves off in their room. The fact that they were here in the galley meant that either they were on the verge of a bad day, or this was something else entirely, and they had no idea which it was.

Lunch dragged on slowly, and although they didn't feel all that hungry, the brothers still ate everything they were given. Ace and Luffy didn't eat the normal amount of servings they usually would, but the fact that they'd eaten anything at all had pleased Sabo enough that he didn't push it.

They would be back to eating their normal amount soon enough anyway.

As they left the galley the three quickly discussed whether they should just go to their room for the rest of the day, and seeing as they had important things they needed to discuss they decided it was better if they were in the privacy of their room to do it, so with that, they headed to their room.

"How far have you gotten in your decision?" Sabo asked as he sat on the bed.

"I've got nothing so far." Ace huffed as he joined him.

"I still wanna be Pirate King," Luffy mumbled as he crawled in between his brothers. They sat in silence for a minute after that before the conversation really began.

"Why don't we just state the pros and cons? Like last time, what are the benefits of joining, what are the benefits of not?" Sabo asked, deciding they had to start discussing this sooner rather than later.

"We'll start with pros, like... we would have the full power of Whitebeard on our side," Sabo said, the others understanding what was being asked.

"We could really warn them about Teach!" Luffy piped up because it was kind of silently agreed upon that, should they decide to join, they would tell the pirates everything about what had happened to them, including their powers.

"Don't have to worry about getting kicked off." Ace muttered arms crossed behind his head. If they joined then they wouldn't have to worry about being kicked to the curb if the pirates felt they overstayed their welcome.

Of course, even if they joined they could still be kicked off the crew, but if it turned out that the pirates weren't acting, then there wasn't a chance that would happen.

"We could actually try and get closer to these people," Sabo added, thinking of the many people they didn't even say hi to yet.

And so the list went on, the brothers voicing everything they'd been thinking in terms of why it was a good idea to stay. It was a pretty sizeable list, and it made the brothers feel a bit better to organize the thoughts that had bee weighing them down all day.

"I think that's everything for pros, but what about cons?" Sabo asked, sitting up in the bed now. Luffy and Ace frowned as they remembered some of the reasons they didn't want to join.

"I still wanna have my own crew and be Pirate King, but if we join, would we be able to leave too?" Luffy asked softly, taking his hat off his head and twirling it in his hands.

"And they could just be acting. If we agree to join, that would be the time that they reveal that they really are a bunch of dirty bastards." Ace mentioned with a scowl.

"We would also answer to Whitebeard instead of being able to do whatever we wanted," Sabo said with a sigh. Like the pros, the feeling the brothers got from voicing their concerns was relieving, almost therapeutic. The cons continued, but they found that they had significantly less reason to join then they did vice versa. Most of the cons themselves had been their paranoid thoughts and fears, but Luffy's first con had brought up a good point.

If they had the freedom to join, would they lose the freedom to leave?

Freedom was an important thing for the brothers. After working seven years to gain back their stolen freedom, there was a chance that they were about to hand it back over, to a pirate Captain no less. If they were to agree to join, would they lose that bit of freedom they'd worked so hard to get back?

"I wanna join, but... I wanna be able to leave, so I can keep my promise to Shanks." Luffy said, the hat now resting motionlessly in his lap.

And really, that was all it came down to.

If they agreed to join, and they still had the freedom to leave whenever they wanted, then the brothers couldn't find any real objection to saying no. After all, there was no way they were going to find out if they were amazing actors until they agreed or disagreed, there was no way of knowing if Whitebeard would kick them to the curb if they didn't agree, there was no way of knowing if Teach was the master planner behind this whole thing unless they agreed and found out themselves.

"I would join too, as long as the option to leave remained." Sabo agreed. The two turned to Ace, wondering how he felt about this. After all, if one of them didn't agree to join, then none of them would.

Ace seemed to realize this as well as he sighed again, running his finger through his hair as he thought.

"If... if we can leave... I think I would join too." Ace muttered a bit reluctantly. Sabo and Luffy smiled, and the blonde nodded.

"It's decided then. If we have the freedom to leave, then we'll join."


	56. To Join or Not to Join

Today was the day. The day that they would tell Whitebeard they're decision on whether or not they wanted to join the Whitebeard Pirates officially or not.

Even though they had come to a decision yesterday, they had still spent the rest of the day wondering just what could happen after agreeing or disagreeing. Thoughts of the pirates turning on them, thoughts of having to call Shanks, or even Gramps, thoughts of the pirates accepting them, only to turn on them when they least expected it. All of it filled their heads as they tried getting through the day.

And now they were going to see just which one of the outcomes that they'd created would come true.

Breakfast was a quiet event that seemed to drag on for the brothers because they knew that the second it ended, they were going to ask to speak to Whitebeard and Marco, to tell them that they would join should they have the freedom to leave if they wanted.

So when they finally finished breakfast and they saw everyone was finishing as well, Sabo spoke up, asking if they could speak with the Captain and first mate. They, of course, agreed, and they all began heading back to the same meeting room that they had always gone to. The walk was quick, silent, and nerve-wracking for the brothers. When they finally were in and sat down, Marco and Whitebeard looked at that, waiting for them to speak.

Sabo took a deep breath, steeling his nerves for whatever could possibly be the outcome of this conversation.

'Same plan as last time, Luffy, if they turn on us grab the snail phone and then we'll run to the lifeboats and call Shanks.' Sabo explained before he said anything. Luffy gave a small nod in understanding, Ace practically on the edge of his seat in anticipation. Looking up at Whitebeard, Sabo got ready to speak.

"It's been a month since you helped us escape from the facility, so we thought we would finally give you an answer on whether we wanted to join your crew officially or not." Sabo started, and Whitebeard and Marco seemed to have expected this, both nodding and remaining silent.

"We just have one question before we agree, or deny, the offer." Sabo continued, to which Whitebeard nodded.

"Ask away." He said a small smile on his face. Normally whenever someone smiled at the brothers in a tense situation such as this, it had bad intentions behind it, but this one was peaceful, even calming. There was no hidden motive, there was no malice, no ill will towards the brothers, just a warm, gentle smile.

"We were wondering if, should we decide to join officially, would we still have the freedom to leave the crew if we wanted to?" Sabo asked, wondering just what the Captain's answer would be. The brothers all watched the Captain carefully, knowing that however he answered would be the deciding factor for them.

"If you do join and decide that, for whatever reason, you want to leave, that would be fine. I would never force someone to stay apart of the crew if they truly didn't want to." Whitebeard said. Now all the brothers needed was Luffy to confirm that Whitebeard had spoken the truth, and when Luffy nodded, telling them he had, they had their answer.

Time to see what the outcome of it would be.

"In that case... we agree to join your crew," Sabo said, a hesitant smile on his face as he said the words. Whitebeard, and even Marco smiled back, seeming pleased with the news.

"Well that's good news. Welcome aboard my sons," Whitebeard said, filling the brothers with a feeling of peace. There was another feeling along with it, and the best that Ace and Sabo could describe it was the warmth that Luffy always tried to explain. If that's what the feeling was, then they now knew why the feeling was like a drug to Luffy, because Ace and Sabo just wanted more of it.

Snapping out of the sensation, Sabo remembered that the brothers had silently agreed to tell them about what had happened in the facility if they joined.

'Are we still telling them everything? Do you guys want to wait?' Sabo asked, not wanting to bring it up if his brothers had changed their minds.

'I think we should tell them.' Luffy replied back a bit nervously because it was nice to have the idea of telling them, but then there was the reality of telling them and having to, once again, relive their past.

'If we're joining we may as well. They would find out eventually whether we wanted them to or not.' Ace said with a minute shrug that looked as if he was just rolling his shoulders. Sabo nodded, knowing his brothers' words were true, and turned to face Whitebeard and Marco.

'Should we tell the other Commanders? Or should we just tell them our powers?' Sabo questioned, wanting to know if he should just ask for them to bring in the Commanders and get everything over at once, or if they should wait.

'I... don't know. Thatch and Izo are good people, and I think the others are good too, like Namur, but I don't know about everyone else yet.' Luffy said, knowing that, like Thatch and Izo, Namur was slowly rising on the list of people he trusted, especially after saving both him and his hat in the water. Despite that though, he hadn't been able to get to know all of the Commanders yet, and even though he knew they were good people, they had saved them from the facility, after all, that didn't mean that he trusted them yet.

'Telling Marco and Whitebeard would mean we would use our powers freely. I think it would be better if we explained everything to all the Commanders so that they don't ask us questions.' Ace said, knowing that once they told this once, they wouldn't be in the mood to tell it again. Besides, they would, of course, find out eventually.

'Are we all sure about this?' Sabo asked one last time in case anyone changed their mind last second. The three brothers looked at each other before nodding. Sabo nodded again, turning back to Whitebeard and Marco who seemed to understand that the brothers were up to something.

"You, uh, might want to call the other Commanders in here," Sabo said, smiling sheepishly as Marco and Whitebeard both raised an eyebrow in interest. The Captain nodded, however, sending Marco to call them in.

It only took a few moments for all of them to file in, sensing that something important was happening and it involved the brothers.

"I'm glad you could all join us. First off, I would like to announce that Ace, Sabo, and Luffy have agreed to become my sons. Your brothers." Whitebeard started, the Commanders smiling and cheering happily, welcoming the brothers to the family, and Luffy basked in all the sudden happiness in the room, feeling himself becoming slightly giddy in response.

"Second, I believe the boys have something to say," Whitebeard said, drawing everyone's attention to the brothers who shifted a bit nervously. Sabo closed his eyes to collect himself, taking a deep breath and getting comfortable in his chair, knowing this was going to be a long, hard, conversation. Clearing his throat, the blonde opened his eyes, looking at the watching Commanders.

"Yes, we do. Thank you all for being accepting of us, but seeing as we're now apart of the crew we thought... we thought we should tell you about the facility. About what they've done." Sabo said. The Commanders understood that this was a hard subject for them to speak about and the smiles slipped from their faces, mixed looks of concern, understanding, and seriousness on their faces.

"I don't think I would be able to tell this twice, so we had everyone come so we didn't have to repeat it." Sabo continued, Luffy twiddling his thumbs and staring at his hands rather than looking at the Commanders watching them. He had a frown on his face, all the memories flooding back.

"Anything you don't want to say, you don't have to," Whitebeard said gently, causing Sabo to smile.

"Truthfully, I don't want to say anything, but its more of a... need to say it really. It would be better if you knew so we don't have to explain later." Sabo said honestly, not wanting to talk about the facility for a third time, but knowing he'd have to if he didn't want to worry about doing it later.

"Where to begin..." Sabo muttered to himself, wondering just how far back he should start. The pirates didn't know about their past like Garp and Shanks did, so he would probably have to explain more than he had to for the other two.

"Well, Ace, Luffy and I grew up on an island in the East Blue. We aren't blood-related, but we're sworn brothers. Garp wasn't always able to come visit us, so whenever he was gone we were left with our caregivers. They weren't exactly... watchful and we normally just took care of ourselves. One day we were out hunting, exploring, and sparring like usual when we were suddenly attacked by three men." Sabo began, giving a quick backstory of their home. The group was listening intently, no one missing a single word that came from Sabo's mouth.

"Of course, we fought them off as best we could, we weren't just going to willingly get kidnapped, but even though we were strong, able to take down most grown men on our home island, we were outmatched here. We had Luffy run back to get our caregiver, but he was never able to reach her before he was caught. He managed to yell for them though, and we're sure the whole island heard the scream." The blonde continued, gauging the reactions of the crew carefully. Luffy was watching the auras of them all, just waiting for a hint of grey to show up, just waiting for malicious feelings towards them to take form.

"We were taken to a ship and locked in a closet for a while. We think it was a month, but there was no way to tell how long we'd really been in there. We were never let out, there was no light other then what came through the crack under the door, and we were fed just enough to keep us alive." Sabo noticed Thatch's look of anger at the mention, and when Luffy said it wasn't directed towards them Sabo supposed it was related to why Thatch was so adamant to make sure they ate regularly.

"Eventually we landed on an island and were dragged out of the room. We stood no chance against the well-fed, trained men and were easily taken off the boat and to our new captors. The... leader of the group was especially glad to see us." Sabo sneered, the brothers all scowling at the memory of Haru.

"His name was..." Sabo always had trouble at this part. Why it was so difficult to say his name, he didn't know, but the past two times he had to mention it, he barely got the word out.

"His name was Haru," Sabo said again, this time managing to get the full name out, though it left a bad taste in his name. The brothers noticed the Commanders looking to Haruta, seeming to connect the dots as to the reason for why they insisted they call him Ruta.

"He injected us with something that knocked us unconscious and took us to what you know as the facility where we were kept for the next seven years of our lives. We were given our number tattoos and thrown into our cell. The facility... it was hell, to put it bluntly. We had no idea where we were when we woke up, and a child in the cell across from us was... kind enough to explain what the place was for us." The memory of the first child they'd seen in the facility, 11049, floated back to Sabo's mind, the memory of them dying as they were speaking, the memory of no one noticing until days later.

He held back the shudder from the memories.

"They explained that, in the facility, nobody lasts long. On average, your life expectancy was two weeks, three if you were lucky. They continued to explain to Ace and I that everyone there was a test subject and the main purpose of the facility was to conduct experiments on those they had taken captive there, us included." Looks of horror and disgust flashed among many of the Commanders faces at the thought, none of them having been expecting that to have been the purpose of the facility.

"E-experiments?" Thatch asked carefully, slightly pale. Sabo nodded while Ace crossed his arms, frowning, and Luffy continued keeping check of everyone's emotions and auras, trying his best not to let the memories get the best of him as he did.

"Yes, experiments. We were now test subjects referred to only by this number on our wrists. We were given breakfast, which wasn't even food if you ask me. Not even good enough to be garbage," Sabo said, face scrunching up in disgust at the memory of how bad the soup had tasted. Aces face was much similar as he remembered as well, and even Luffy wore a similar look despite the fact that he was concentrating on everyone's feelings and auras. The Commanders took notice of this, deciding that they never wanted to know how bad this 'food' actually was.

"And then we were left alone. Until lunch." The brothers frowned again as the story progressed.

"When Luffy was little, before he met both Ace and I, he had met Shanks in the village on our island. Shanks had been visiting for a while. I don't know many of the specifics, I never went to the village, but apparently, he had brought a devil fruit with him on the island. One day, while Shanks' crew was partying at the bar that Luffy's caregiver worked at, Luffy was eating and managed to eat the fruit as well, making him a devil fruit user." Sabo explained, looking to his brother who was watching everyone carefully, knowing that this was only one of the many things they were hiding, and if grey showed up in anyone's auras now, there was no way he was going to share anything else.

A look of shock and surprise was on every single one of the Commanders faces, besides Marcos who merely looked interested and slightly confused. Whitebeard had a similar look to Marco's on his face, and no doubt they were all trying to figure out just how they hadn't noticed.

"A devil fruit? B-but... we saw him fall in the water!" Haruta said in shock, everyone nodding their heads along in agreement, equally confused. Sabo smiled a bit as Luffy cleared them all, telling him it was safe to continue.

"That will be explained shortly. For now, I'll continue where I left off. Luffy had eaten Shanks' fruit, the Gomu Gomu no mi, making him a rubber man." Sabo said, pulling his brother's cheek in demonstration, the Commanders watching with wide, curious eyes as it stretched much further then any normal persons cheek should stretch. Sabo let it go, and it went back to normal with a snap, not even fazing the youngest who had been expecting it.

"The facility knew about this ability, making Luffy an instant favorite among them. After lunch, which was the same garbage as it always was, he was taken from the cell and dragged to... well, there wasn't really a name for it. We all just called it the lab or the testing room. They did experiments, injected him with unknown drugs, cut him open, anything they could think of really. When they brought him back, he was covered in bandages and only wanted to sleep." Ace was silently fuming, and even Sabo was having trouble keeping calm at the memory of their little brother coming back to them in a less than ideal state. Even the Commanders looked angry about it.

"The next day, we were all taken to testing, along with a few other kids there. Everyone in the facility was the same age range as us, I don't think there was ever anyone over 13 there besides us. That was Ace and I's first day in hell. Ace wasn't awake for most of it, all of the drugs that they injected into him put him to sleep so he was in and out for most of it." Sabo said, glancing to the oldest who was now digging his nails into his arms.

"The tests they did to me made me go through waves of pain. Every new injection was a new rush of pain, in my head, in my arms, hands, legs, feet, chest, everywhere. I don't really know what tests they did to Luffy, but they injected him with stuff too before taking him to the table and... well, anyways..." Sabo didn't finish, not wanting to remember seeing them cut into his little brother. The Commanders were smart, they would be able to connect the dots.

"And that's how our first year went. We were given drug after drug and we became lab rats for the doctors' every whim. If they wanted to know something, they figured it out, no matter the cost, no matter the life they needed to take. To them, we were just a disposable resource, one they could replace if needed." The bitterness in the blonde's tone clued the room into how much hatred he felt towards the people at the facility, and, frankly, the Commanders were beginning to feel the same way.

"As the year passed we quickly became famous as the kids who couldn't die. We exceeded the normal life expectancy and the doctors quickly became fascinated with us because of it. We were the favorites, the model test subjects. The fact that Luffy had a devil fruit only made it better to them. We watched children come and go daily, and soon we'd outlived everyone who'd been in there when we first arrived."

"The first, and only, good thing besides escaping was when we met Emily. Normally the same person would bring us our meals, but one day, Emily brought them instead. She was a nice person, one who didn't agree with what was happening in the facility, and she wanted to help us, and the other trapped children, get out. She used to give us chocolates or fruits whenever she brought us our soup, and she gave us chalk to use in our cell when we were bored." Sabo said fondly, the brothers all calming down at the good memories that surrounded the one person they liked in the facility. The Commanders and Captain all smiled as well, seeing that this was someone precious to the brothers, and someone who actually seemed to have some humanity in them.

"She even gave us a map of the entire facility to help us escape. However, like normal, our good luck ran out." Sabo said, tone becoming darker and smile leaving his face. Ace and Luffy smiles dropped as well, instantly causing everyone else's to as well, already fearing the worst.

"One of the new tests the doctors had come up with was seeing what would happen to a devil fruit user if they were injected with liquid sea stone. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. They injected it into Luffy and he was running a high fever and could barely stay awake. Emily came by and told us she had stolen a cure that the doctors had been developing to flush the sea stone instantly from someone's system. She gave it to us, we injected it into Luffy, and within seconds, he was feeling better." Sabo explained, the Commanders and Captain listening with rapt attention.

"Just as Luffy was feeling better, there was a shot, and Emily was hit. Haru had been suspicious of her and had a feeling she would bring us the serum, so, obviously, the next course of action was to kill her." Sabo spat out hatefully. He never thought he could feel more hatred for someone then he did for Haru. The man was pure evil, someone who he wished he had never come across.

The rest of the room was filling with anger once again, wondering just how much worse Haru could get. It wasn't often you heard about someone that had such a disregard for human life.

"After she died, things went back to the way they were before. The guy who used to give us food was back, and it was as if Emily had never existed. That year of testing and experiments slowly went by, and we realized that the Doctors were building something. We heard construction happening a lot, but never knew what it was."

"We found out eventually though when they finally finished building it. They had spent months constructing an entire room that they dubbed the Training Room. It was made to look like outside, complete with fake grass and blue walls. We were then forced to fight other children that were in the facility. Of course, we resisted at first, we weren't monsters like them, but they had ways of getting us to cooperate." Sabo said, remembering every threat they had been given just so they would beat up some defenseless children for their stupid tests.

"Our home island was full of abnormally large animals that were easily triple the size of normal animals, and to get food you had to be strong to take them down. This, of course, meant that we were much stronger than normal children, even after being malnourished and unable to exercise." Sabo said, and he knew that some Commanders were beginning to figure out that they weren't all that inexperienced at fighting like they had pretended to be.

"So, fighting normal, defenseless children was easy, and also something we didn't want to do. However, as mentioned before, we had no choice, so we fought them. Haru promised any child that could defeat us their freedom, promised that if someone could beat us in a fight, they would be free to go. We tried throwing fights, tried letting the other kids win, but Haru was too smart and saw through it every time to the point that he began threatening us again, telling us to no longer throw the fights or else he would separate us." Sabo said. He could remember the fear he had felt back then, the fear of being separated from his precious brothers, the only ones keeping him sane.

"No one ever beat us after that. Shortly after the opening of the training room, the doctors began doing a different kind of testing, one that we weren't apart of just yet. They were enhancing children's natural abilities. For example, the first kid that we fought with these enhancements was a kid whose speed had been enhanced. He could move so fast, you couldn't see him. Another kid had extremely fast regenerative abilities to the point that any wound he received was immediately healed before our eyes. Needless to say, they were difficult to take down." Sabo explained. Everyone seemed interested in this new information, wondering just how strong the brothers were to take down people with superhuman abilities.

"Of course, with all testing that they did, they experimented on us too. They wanted to enhance our senses like they had done with the others. They messed with my ears, enhancing my hearing range. I can hear things extremely far away. Anything anyone says on this ship, I can hear as if I'm standing right there with them. For example, I believe his name is Cedrick, has just told Frank that he almost slipped a few minutes ago when running away from Roman." Sabo said, focusing in on the conversation easily, the man talking loudly and boisterously. The Commander's eyes widened in shock, and the brothers had to hold in their amusement.

"You can really hear everything?" Namur asked, a slightly skeptical look on his face. Sabo smiled, nodding.

"I can," Sabo affirmed as the Commanders muttered to themselves.

"So you were listening in on us the entire time?" Izo asked, not mad, but curious. Again, Sabo nodded.

"Partly, yes. Whenever I heard someone speaking about us, I would listen closely to that conversation to make sure no one here was suddenly going to attack us. I did not, however, listen to anything I knew was confidential. I have no need to invade anyone's privacy, so anything that had nothing to do with us, I tuned out and focused on listening to something else instead." Sabo said, easing the Commander's minds.

"They didn't just enhance my abilities though. They enhanced Aces eyesight as well, and Luffy's sense of smell too. Ace can see extreme distances with perfect clarity, and can even see in the dark, while Luffy can smell scents that are weeks old and can distinguish a person by scent alone." He explained, Ace looking slightly grumpy at the attention while Luffy merely gave a toothy grin, laughing a bit.

"I bet Marco smells like a sweaty sock." Blamenco joked, nudging the first Commander with a smile. Meanwhile, Marco glared at him and the others laughed.

"No, he smells like ashes... and clouds," Luffy said, visibly smelling the air and shocking the Commanders.

"Clouds? What does a cloud smell like?" Kingdew asked curiously. Even Ace and Sabo were curious. They always knew everyone had a distinct scent, allowing Luffy to distinguish who was who, but they'd never asked what anything smelled like. There was no reason to, after all, they would never smell it like Luffy did.

"Like... water, but not really. It's more like a misty smell, but not like the sea mist, cause that's really salty, but like misty water and rain." Luffy tried explaining. Everyone tried imagining the smell, but it was impossible seeing as they couldn't experience it like Luffy.

"Wait, hold on, that's cool and all, but Ace can see in the dark?!" Thatch asked, suddenly remembering that Sabo had mentioned that. It was like a switch was flipped as everyone's eyes turned to Ace who scowled.

"Yeah, what about it?" He asked, and no one knew what to say about the matter. There was no real way to test if it was true or not at the moment so they would just have to wait for proof.

"Anyways, back to the story," Sabo said, directing the attention off of his irritable older brother. At once, everyone remembered how the brothers had gotten these abilities and were immediately engrossed in Sabo's story, wanting, and needing, to know more.

"They enhanced our abilities. We couldn't control our newly heightened senses, which left us in a lot of pain for weeks. It was hard at first, to suddenly hear everything like the volume had been turned to a hundred, and I had migraines from the loud noises until I was able to filter everything to a reasonable noise. Ace was easily susceptible to bright lights, which we were put under nearly daily, and he was able to get eye strain much easier than normal. He also had bad migraines until his eyes finally adjusted. Luffy could smell everything too well, and the overwhelming stench of medicine and alcohol in the lab burned his nose, giving even him headaches." Sabo explained. The Commanders realized that, even though the brothers had cool, powerful, abilities, they had come at a cost.

"We were forced to fight a lot more after that. It was our third year there that the next big thing happened. The doctors were a little too excited, which was always bad news, and it turned out that they had gotten their hands on a devil fruit. Of course, who better to give it to then one of the longest-lasting children in the facility? So, they gave it to Ace." The Commanders could barely comprehend the fact that the brothers had been able to hide the fact that, not one, but two of them had devil fruits.

"It was the Mera Mera no mi, and it allowed Ace to become and control fire. Now that two of us had devil fruits, the doctors were having a field day. Apparently. that also meant they were ready to do riskier experiments." And suddenly Ace and Luffy were both frowning again, a wave of deep anger and hatred flaming in Aces eyes at whatever Sabo was going to tell the Commanders. Sabo sighed, knowing it had been a traumatizing experience for them all.

"They injected me with a lot of drugs to put it lightly. I guess whatever they gave me didn't mix well because I was suddenly getting really hot and they started to freak out a bit. I don't remember much except the fact that they began clearing the room and started getting a lot of things out." Sabo said, the memory hazy. He had _died_ after all.

"They kept talkin' 'bout your... vitals or whatever dropping. And BP, whatever that means." Ace muttered darkly, the words ingrained in his head, remembering how he had fought to stay in the room once he realized just how wrong Sabo's test had gone.

Everyone frowned at Aces words, and they all began to realize where this was going.

"The drugs had been too much for me I guess and I ended up dying. Of course, being a favorite among the doctors had only one single benefit, and that was that they would do anything to bring me back to life. Obviously, they were able to do just that seeing as I'm here right now, but they did keep me there overnight to make sure I was ok." Sabo said, and the room was once again surprised that the blonde had actually died in that place. Of course, they knew they shouldn't be surprised by anything that happened there anymore, not after everything they'd already heard, but it couldn't be helped.

They had a feeling it was only going to get worse from here.


	57. The Second Half

There was a tense silence in the room as they waited for Sabo to continue the story of the brothers' experience in the facility.

"Then year four came." Sabo started, taking a deep breath. He knew this was a long story, and they were only a little halfway through it, but he was becoming exhausted with living through these memories once again.

"Year four definitely comes in second for being our worst year there. It started normally, with tests one after the other, but then they began doing tests exclusively on Ace and Luffy. These tests were devil fruit-based and they would drop them in tanks of water, forcing them to hold their breath as long as they could, and only stopping once they'd reached an 'acceptable' 5 minutes." Sabo said with a grimace, remembering sitting in his cell and hearing Haru berate them, pushing them back in over and over again until they did.

"But humans can't hold their breath that long," Namur said in confusion, causing Ace to scoff and Luffy to look down, kicking his feet against the floor.

"Yeah, well these humans can thanks to that insane bastard." Ace said, jutting a thumb out to point to Luffy and himself, remembering how his vision had been spotted with black and the lack of oxygen had made him dizzy.

"It wasn't long after they'd been returned to the cell that there was an explosion. The Doctors had been working on something and it backfired, causing a massive fire to roll through the halls and begin killing the children locked in their cells." The brothers once again had dark looks in their eyes, remembering the screams.

"It eventually got to our cell as well, and I was honestly convinced we were going to die. At this point, both Ace and Luffy were restrained with sea stone constantly because the doctors feared that, without it, they would be able to do some serious damage. And they were right. This meant, however, that they were constantly in a weakened state, and now we were in a cell with no escape and a roaring fire coming our way. Ace managed to control the fire despite being held in sea stone and kept it from harming us thanks to a drug the doctors had used on him earlier that day. I'm pretty sure the doctors were convinced we were unable to die." Sabo said, and it seemed that way. It was deathly silent as the Commanders and Captain took in the information, knowing there was still more years to come, and apparently an even worse year according to Sabo, but it seemed as if this was something you would hear in a work of fiction, not in real life.

"Due to the fire, all of the children being held captive were killed, along with a few doctors too, and they had too 'restock' the entire facility. Within the time of having no children to spar against they opted to just do regular tests on us. They did specific ones on Ace and Luffy to the point where they can both hold their breath for ten minutes, and last another two after that before passing out. They can also resist the effects of the oceans for two minutes, which means that they can tread water in that time until they become too weak to do it anymore, explaining how Luffy was able to misdirect you into thinking he could swim." Sabo explained.

"I didn't think anything like that was possible," Marco said, clearly intrigued by the aspect. Sabo chuckled dryly at that.

"Yeah, well, they had a knack for making the impossible possible." He said before deciding to continue on with the story. It had already been extremely lengthy so far, more so then it had been when they told Shanks or Garp.

"The tests they did also allowed Ace and Luffy to have better control over their fruit, even when in sea stone, and somewhere along the way they had given Ace a more mild version of what they had given the child with regenerative abilities. Ace heals much faster than normal, but not instantaneously like the other child had. Deep wounds that take weeks to heal only take a few days instead." Understanding showed again as they realized this was how Ace had baffled Whiskey when his wound had miraculously healed at an exceptional rate.

"Year five was the year of even more tragedy. They, like usual, were testing on us, and they decided to try a new test on Luffy. One involving poison. They injected multiple types of poison into him with the idea of creating an antidote that could cure multiple types of poisons at once. Long story short, it didn't go well. Like with me, Luffy began failing fast and they had us all taken out while they tried to use the antidote. It didn't work, and Luffy died for a few minutes to the point that they gave up trying to revive him, but as they were cleaning up the antidote worked and he was alive again." The Commanders shared a look as they realized that not one, but two of them had died at the hands of the doctors, not to mention, they had nearly died multiple times throughout this whole experience as well.

"Then, the worst year came. Year six." Sabo began, looking over at Luffy. Every other time he told this story, this was the part where Luffy left. In fact, Ace was already nearly out of his chair in anticipation, waiting for Luffy to stand and leave. The Commanders and Captain watched, understanding that something bad, something worse than everything else, was coming up.

But Luffy didn't stand, and although he looked like he wanted to leave, he remained seated.

"Are you sure, Lu?" Sabo asked softly, not knowing if he should continue with Luffy in the room. It had always been hard for Luffy to come to terms with what had happened during that year. He had changed drastically because of it, and it was almost like they had left them with a husk of their brother after what they had put him through.

He was only just beginning to heal from it, and now he was about to sit and hear about it all over again?

"I-I... I wanna stay... to watch t-the... the colors... to make s-sure..." Luffy said in a shaky, hesitant voice. He was clearly divided on this decision, and the older two could understand why. Luffy was the only one who knew if the Commanders and Captain would be affected by the story, and if he left, Sabo would be left alone with them, with no way of knowing if they were going to turn on him because of what happened during that year.

But on the other hand, it was an extremely painful thing for Luffy to go through again, even if it was just words retelling a memory he had replaying constantly in his mind.

"If you have to leave, don't worry, just leave," Sabo said, grabbing Luffy's hand as he spoke. He knew that Luffy would try and stick it out, but Sabo wanted him to know that, at any time, he could leave. Even if Sabo wouldn't have the advantage of knowing how the Commanders were feeling or if their auras suddenly turned grey, he would rather be stuck in here with them then force Luffy to relive a past he's still having a hard time coming to terms with.

Ace seemed to share his sentiment because he grabbed Luffy's other hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Prepared for the worse, Sabo drew his attention back to the waiting Commanders and Captain, getting ready to tell their story once more.

"Year six. It started out normally. We had learned about haki when we were forced to fight, so throughout the beginning of that year, we trained even more in it. We sparred, we were tested on, and we were the perfect test subjects. Everything was the same as it had always been until the doctors once again came up with a new test." The Commanders and Captain listened closely, a heavy tension filling the room as anticipation grew within them.

"They took Luffy, only Luffy, and brought him in for testing. We don't know what drug they gave him, but the effects were immediate. Whatever they gave him also gave him the ability to see someones entire memories by just looking into their eyes. From birth to present." Sabo explained. Noticing the wide, nervous eyes on some Sabo smiled.

"Don't worry, he's not exactly fond of going through peoples histories like that. At first, he had no control over it and had to stare at the ground a lot, but he learned to control it so that he can look into eyes without worrying about it." There were sighs of relief from some of the Commanders who didn't exactly want their pasts to be known without their permission.

"That wasn't all they did though. The doctors had created a series of tests that they wanted to try out, and that was only the first one. The next one, another injection, gave him the ability to feel peoples emotions. Whatever they're feeling, he can sense it. That one, he can't exactly just turn off." Sabo said, rubbing the back of his head as the Commanders came to terms with his words.

"What, so he can feel what I'm feeling then?" Vista asked a single eyebrow raised skeptically. Sabo nodded, tightening his grip on Luffy's hand, Ace doing the same. Before he could speak further on the matter, Luffy spoke up instead.

"You're confused. All of you are, and some of you are worried about us. There's also anger, but it's not directed at us, it's directed at the facility. There's also a lot of warmth, but I'm being careful with it." Luffy said, saying the last bit more to Ace and Sabo rather than the others, to reassure them that he wasn't going to let it influence him.

"Warmth?" Blamenco asked, confused. He was willing to bet that what Sabo had said was true and that Luffy really could feel their emotions, but what kind of emotion was warmth?

"That, we don't know much about. We know that good people can possess another emotion which Luffy can only describe as warm and nice, and Captain Whitebeard possesses a lot of it." Sabo said, nodding to the Captain who was listening with interest.

"Its a particularly... nice feeling to Luffy. Anyone feeling an emotion strong enough can influence the way Luffy feels. Say, for example, one of you got really angry right now. Luffy would feel that feeling and it would begin to influence the way he feels, making him inexplicably angry, even if he had been quite cheerful a moment ago. For Luffy its hard to not let in feelings of happiness because, in his words, they're nice feelings and they feel good to let in. This, however, means that he gets easily influenced by them." Sabo began explaining, the Commanders and Captain trying to keep up.

"This warm feeling is like... a drug to Luffy," Sabo said, trying to find the right way to explain this.

"In large quantities, Luffy can easily let that feeling overwhelm him. You've all seen it happen before, in fact." There were more looks of confusion as the room tried to figure out what Sabo meant. The blonde smiled, chuckling a bit.

"When we were in the galley eating, Luffy had felt for the first time that one of you possessed a large quantity of the feeling. He had stopped eating and was looking around trying to pinpoint who had the feeling, and it turned out to have been Whitebeard. He'd never experienced that much warmth at once. Ace and I also possess the feeling, but we cant produce as much as Whitebeard can. Luffy let too much of it in, and he became so relaxed by the feeling, so influenced by it, that he began falling asleep." Luffy smiled sheepishly, remembering when he had scared everyone when they thought he was hurt.

"I remember that! You said he was just tired and you took him to your room. We thought something was wrong." Jiru said. Ace scoffed again while Sabo just nodded.

"Exactly. Ever since then Luffys made sure to limit how much warmth he allows in. Its good in small quantities, and Ace and I make sure to send him some to calm him down, but we have to limit how much we give him. Now, as I mentioned before, warmth is a feeling that only good people can possess. In spite of that, there is a feeling that only bad people can possess." Sabo said grimly, frowning along with the brothers as the room became tense once more.

"We don't have a good name for this feeling either, but Luffy describes it as a darkness. A heavy, suffocating, slimy feeling that he doesn't like. We've only found a few people outside of the facility that possesses this feeling. Haru had an... abundance of it as well, and it was difficult for Luffy to block the feeling from coming in." The blonde explained.

"We'll get to that later though. For now, let's discuss the last test. The worst one. All of these tests fell under a single experiment that the doctors were running, an experiment that they called the 'Pure Souls' experiment. This last test made it understandable as to what this meant. After another injection, Luffy began seeing colors around people. They ranged from a light blue, to grey, to a completely pitch black. I overheard the doctors saying that he was now able to see auras and that they were a representation of someone's soul. It didn't take long to figure out that the light blue, which only surrounded, Me, Ace, and the rest of the children, meant those people had good souls, while the darker and greyer it got, the worse the soul was. Needless to say, Haru's color was completely black." Ace scowled at that while Luffy shrunk back in his seat.

"What about Teach, yoi?" Marco suddenly asked, and Sabo had to commend the man on his intelligence as he and Ace shared a look, Luffy sinking even further back.

"Ah, that. We'll get to that, but let's just say, it's a good thing you took our warning to heart," Sabo said with a half-smile while the other Commanders looked around in confusion.

"Teach? What about him? Is he alright?" Thatch asked with concern, and the brothers knew that that concern was misplaced.

"Again, we'll get to that, don't worry. Anyways, Luffy was able to see peoples souls, and like seeing peoples pasts, he could... turn off the ability to see the colors. The final thing, though, was what the Doctors called bridging." Sabo said solemnly, and Luffy shivered, knowing what was coming next. The Commanders noticed, and they didn't like it one bit.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave Luffy?" Ace asked, squeezing his brothers hand in hopes to give him a bit of comfort.

"N-no... wanna... wanna stay," Luffy muttered quietly, looking at the Commanders' and Captains colors, watching for even a speck of grey. Ace and Sabo frowned, sending each other another look before Sabo hesitantly continued on.

"Well, the doctors wanted Luffy to bridge his soul to other children's souls. Connect them. They sent children in, had Luffy try and create the bridge, but... it didn't work. No matter how many children they tried, every time Luffy would try, the child would be in immense pain until they ended up... well... dying." Sabo said, trying to be as gentle as possible, knowing that Luffy was going to have a difficult time hearing this.

"They forced him to keep trying it on more and more children until they finally ended up sending Ace in. They made him try it on Ace, but instead of dying, it was successful. Luffy had bridged to Ace and, in doing so, created what Luffy calls a wave. Luffy can see a wave connecting him to Ace no matter where he is. They had him try a few more times on other children, but they all died as well until they had him do it with me. Obviously, it was also successful and he was able to create a wave with me as well. Ace and I cant see these waves, only Luffy can. We don't know if there's a range to them seeing as we've been together ever since, but they do seem to be linked to our health. The closer we get to dying, the more transparent the wave becomes." Luffy managed to sit through the entire thing, but that didn't mean he was unaffected by it. He had been allowing himself to let in warmth from Whitebeard, helping to cease the painful thoughts running through his mind about how much of a monster he was.

It helped that Ace and Sabo were both right there with him, holding his hands tightly and sending him their own pulses of warmth.

"I wish I'd been able to fight more doctors," Atmos muttered darkly, all of them feeling the familiar burning of hatred for the doctors that they had let off a little too easy now that they knew everything they had done to poor defenseless children.

"Trust me, no one wants to fight them more then we do." Ace growled out, his free hand clenched tightly into a fist. Sabo sighed but didn't say anything to disagree.

"The doctors found that Luffy had to know and trust the person he created the bridge with, or else it would fail. After that Luffy became much more... distant. It was harder to get any response out of him really. The only thing we had to look forward to was year seven. We had promised, back when Emily died, that we would escape when Ace and I were seventeen. If we couldn't manage it, then... who knows what we would have done. We worked on making escape plans for years, and it was all finally going to happen." Sabo said, his tone becoming lighter as he remembered the fact that they weren't there anymore. They had escaped.

"Ace and I knew it would be difficult to escape, what with all the guards and doctors, and not to mention the extreme disadvantage we were at seeing as Ace and Luffy were cuffed in sea stone twenty-four seven and the fact that we were all only fed the same gross soup for our meals. We only really planned on getting Luffy out, of course, we didn't tell him that." Sabo said, ruffling Luffy's hair, ignoring the glare Luffy sent him. The youngest still wasn't happy that they had done that.

"And it managed to work. Luffy got out, but Ace and I were caught. It was pure luck that Luffy managed to find you on the island. The rest, you know." Sabo finished, taking a deep breath, knowing that there was still many questions and things they needed to discuss. There was silence for a moment as everyone processed the lengthy story.

"That was... unexpected, but I'm glad you three made it out of that situation," Whitebeard said sincerely, Ace and Luffy nodding to him while Luffy allowed himself to absorb a little more of the warmth from the man.

"I understand that you guys have some more questions. We'll try and answer them if we can." Sabo said honestly, and there was an uproar as everyone began speaking at once, all of them wondering something different.

"One at a time, yoi," Marco said, calming the group back down, muttering apologies.

"So... you guys _do_ know haki?" Thatch asked, the question having been bothering him for weeks. Sabo laughed, having known about Thatch's curiosity about that.

"Yes, Thatch, you were right all that time that we knew haki, but that's not how I always knew you were at the door. I could hear you coming." Thatch looked triumphant about that. Even if he wasn't exactly right, he had been right in the end.

"Luffy has Conquerors Haki too, right? I remember him using it when we rescued you guys." Izo said, and Sabo frowned a bit, nodding.

"Yes, he does, though that was the first time he's ever used it. Ace possesses it as well. He's had a bit of practice with it but not much." Sabo said, Ace muttering about it not being a big deal when everyone gave them looks of shock.

"That's impressive, but what was it you mentioned about the warning about Teach?" Jozu asked, and the brothers became grim again.

"Teach isn't a good guy. He's got the bad color and the bad feelings." Luffy said darkly, shivering at the memory of the feelings.

"Luffy noticed it before Teach even arrived on the Moby. Teach has a strong feeling of darkness, and not to mention his aura is almost darker than Harus." Sabo explained with a frown. Ace was glaring at the table, doing his best not to start cursing the bastard.

"Really? Are you sure?" Curiel asked, and Sabo understood why he was asking. After all, these were people who had probably been with the man for years with no suspicion that he was a bad guy.

"Of course we are, that damn bastard's planning something and I don't like it." Ace growled out angrily, wishing he could punch the man already and get it over with. Sure, Teach hadn't done anything yet, but he would, there was no doubt about that.

"Ace." Sabo hissed, trying to keep his brother from angering them.

"Don't mind him, he gets irritated easily. But it's true, Teach is definitely going to do something sooner or later, and whatever it is, it won't be good. When we warned you about him, we didn't know yet if we were going to stay. When Teach came, we were actually prepared to leave, because nothing good comes with staying near someone with that level of darkness, but seeing as you took our warning seriously, we decided to stay." Sabo said to Whitebeard and Marco who were both frowning in thought.

"Seeing as he's yet to do anything, we won't do anything either. However, I want everyone here to keep a close eye on him. Don't let him know were suspicious of him, but don't let him do anything that we don't know about." Whitebeard ordered firmly, everyone nodding their agreement. Another silence lapsed over the room as everyone took in this information before Marco spoke up.

"You three tap a lot, yoi." He started, saying the words more as a fact than a question. Sabo smiled, remembering his previous thought that the man was extremely smart.

"We do, and I know you've been curious about it," Sabo said plainly, already knowing what the question would be. The Commanders watched in confusion, some having noticed them tapping a few times while others hadn't noticed at all.

"Why? At first, I thought it was a habit or a nervous tick, yoi, but I never knew for sure." Marco said arms crossed over his chest.

"Actually, its none of that. In the facility, we were always around other people, unless we were in our cell, and even then, noises echoed easily in those halls, so to make sure no one caught on to our escape plan, we learned how to communicate silently to each other. Through a series of taps and other noises, Ace, Luffy and I can have full conversations without having to speak to, or even see, each other." Sabo explained, rapping his fingers on the table a few times.

"No way, so you've been having conversations right in front of us and we had no clue?" Rakuyo asked in amazement. The brothers all grinned proudly, nodding.

'And these idiots were none the wiser.' Ace tapped in amusement, making sure it was clear to everyone that he was communicating to his brothers. Luffy laughed to himself while Sabo smiled, tempted to laugh as well but opting instead to hit his brother's shoulder.

"Ace, be nice, it's not like they had reason to believe that's what we were doing." Sabo scolded lightly, only making Ace snicker.

"What'd he say?" Fossa asked, the Commanders watching curiously, all wanting to know as well.

"Oh, nothing all that important," Sabo said with a smirk, the Commanders only more curious now.

"Man, I wish I knew how to talk in a cool secret language like that," Haruta grumbled.

"That's cool and all, but you guys said you didn't know how to fight. Obviously, that was a lie, but why lie in the first place?" Blenheim asked, not angry, just curious.

"Surprise," Luffy said simply, confusing the Commanders.

"Surprise?" Atmos asked uncertainly. Sabo sighed, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"What he means is the element of surprise. Understand that we had gone from one horrible situation and had been forced into an unknown one within a matter of hours. Not to mention, we were on a pirate ship known notoriously throughout the world for being bloodthirsty and greedy." Sabo began to elaborate.

"Yeah, but those are all lies. Unless they're talking about our fights with pirates that attack our territory." Namur said, and Sabo nodded.

"Yes, we know that now, but there was no way for us to know that at the time. The only way we had to defend ourselves was to keep our abilities a secret so that, in the event that you really were those bloodthirsty pirates, we would be able to use the element of surprise to shock you a bit and help us escape. Honestly, if we suddenly used fire and rubber attacks against you, as well as decent fighting skills, how surprised would you have been?" Sabo asked, and he could see the Commanders agreeing with the logic.

"It sure as heck would stop me in my tracks for a minute." Jozu murmured, the others nodding their agreement.

"Yeah, you three put up a pretty good act of having no fighting skill whatsoever. Not to mention, no devil fruits as well." Kingdew added.

"Exactly, which is why we didn't come out right and tell you all that we could fight. We tested you though, and found that you were trustworthy enough to tell you all of this." Sabo explained, only causing further confusion.

"Tested us?" Thatch asked.

"Mhmm. Tested your reaction to certain things, pushed a few buttons, listened to see if anyone turned us into the marines. One of them was supposed to be knocking a bucket over and seeing what the reaction was, and even though we did just that, it hadn't exactly gone according to plan." Sabo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You mean when Luffy tripped on the bucket?" Izo asked, and Sabo nodded.

"Yeah. Sure, we'd planned on doing just that, but Luffy had been resting before we did and none of us realized he'd actually fallen asleep. Whenever we're just waking up our senses are oversensitive and we can be overwhelmed quite easily because of it. When we walked out the smell of the cleaning supplies disoriented Luffy and he really tripped over the bucket." Sabo said, Ace shaking his head, still not sure how none of them realized Luffy was being overwhelmed.

"Then was what happened with Vander Decken true? That you just found him drowning?" Jiru asked, all of the Commanders having been skeptical of the story from the beginning, but having no reason to think that wasn't what had happened.

"No, it wasn't. We knew it wasn't exactly the best story, but it was either that or tell you all everything, which we were not ready to do. When Luffy wandered off at the Palace I heard Princess Shirahoshi crying. We were concerned and didn't know what to make of it so we went to her room where we had a conversation with her, eventually finding out about Vander Decken. We promised we'd take care of it so the next day we went out looking for him. I heard someone talking outside of the bubble around Fishman Island and Ace could see their ship, so we snuck onto a leaving merchants boat and went to Decken himself. He was apparently a pirate Captain as well so Luffy and I took down his remaining crew after Ace used his haki and Ace went after Decken." Sabo said, giving a quick retelling of the fight, which hadn't been all that exciting honestly.

"The guy talked too much for how weak he was." Ace grumbled, still grumpy about the lack of a fight that Decken had put up.

"So you three took down a New World pirate crew... alone..." Rakuyo said in shock, the brothers nodding.

"To be honest, I think they were just lucky no one had found them sooner. They weren't all that remarkable." Sabo said with a shrug.

"Yeah, and I didn't even get to fight Dellen," Luffy said with a pout, confusing the Commanders.

"Decken, Luffy. Nicknames, remember?" Sabo said with a sigh, wondering if Luffy would ever learn.

"I know, but Allen was a bad guy so I don't feel bad about saying his name wrong," Luffy said defiantly, and Sabo guessed it was better than nothing.

"Allen, really Lu? That sounds nothing like Decken." Ace said with a bit of laughter. Luffy only smiled up at his older brother, not responding.

"What about when Ace fell asleep when you were walking?" Izo asked, the event having scared many of the crew when they thought that something might be wrong, but Whiskey had assured them that everything was fine.

"Oh, that. Well, Ace has narcolepsy. He's had it ever since he was born. He's prone to what we call sleep attacks and can fall asleep at any moment really. It's sudden, but there are normally warning signs before it happens. It just so happened that Ace was only having his attacks in our room or when we were sitting down. Marco actually witnessed one before." Sabo explained, the first mate easily knowing what they were talking about.

"I remember, yoi. He slumped and hit his head on the railing." Marco said, and Sabo nodded.

"That's right. The attacks were worse in the facility, but now they're beginning to even out again. If he doesn't sleep well he's more prone to them, or if he's put into a high emotional state, but for the most part they're random and unpredictable." Sabo said, the Commanders all nodding in understanding. There was silence after that as everyone took a minute to think of any more questions. When no one spoke up again, Whitebeard cleared his throat, looking to the brothers.

"Thank you for telling us everything, despite how hard it must have been, and welcome to the crew." He said simply, ending the meeting as the brothers smiled back to him, Luffy letting himself bask in the warmth a bit.

"That's right! I've gotta go cook a feast to celebrate the fact that its official now!" Thatch said excitedly, standing up and leaving the room, mumbling to himself about what he could cook. The other Commanders laughed at the man, but also welcomed the brothers before leaving the room. The trio were the second to last to get up, only Marco and Whitebeard left in the room.

"I like it here. We should stay for a while." Luffy said matter-of-factly as they walked to the door.

"That's kind of the point of joining, Lu." Ace said, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"Oh, right. See you later Mr. Whitebeard, Marco!" Luffy said with a grin, walking out the door with Ace and Sabo right behind him.

"I sense there will be interesting events in our future with those three," Whitebeard said with a smile.

"I've already got enough paperwork, let's not make it more, yoi," Marco said in a grumble.

Whitebeard didn't say anything to that, merely laughing at his first mate.


	58. Telling Whiskey

The whole story of the brothers' past took Sabo so long to tell that by the time he'd finished talking, it was time for lunch. Thatch was still muttering about a feast for dinner, but in the meantime, everyone was heading to the galley to eat and then move on with the day.

The brothers followed the lunch crowd, some of the crew giving them and the Commanders curious looks seeing as they had spent most of the morning in the meeting room talking.

They sat at their table with the Captain and Commanders, ignoring the looks, and thanked Thatch as he set their food down in front of them. The chef said a quick no problem before rushing off to the kitchen.

'We have to talk to Whiskey too.' Luffy tapped out as he ate, although he looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea. Sabo sighed, knowing his brother was right, while Ace scowled.

'Why? I wanna stay as far away from her as possible.' Ace replied with a huff. Sabo nudged his brother lightly, sending a light glare to him.

'Ace, we're apart of the crew now, you can't just go saying things like that anymore.' He reprimanded, knowing that they would still have their qualms about the nurses, but that didn't mean they had to voice them. It would be preferable if the crew didn't think they hated their nurses, and they didn't, they merely had a... distaste of them was all. Nothing personal.

'Yeah, and we promised we'd tell her stuff after we joined!' Luffy tapped with a bit of a frown. When it came to promises, Luffy didn't take them lightly. None of the brothers did.

'Fine, we can go talk to her after this.' Ace replied grudgingly. At this point, the brothers were acutely aware of the fact that the Commanders had noticed their silent conversation, watching with wide curious eyes as they tried deciphering whatever it was the brothers were saying to each other. Sabo held back his laughter as he noticed this, tapping to his brothers again.

'Thank you. Now Ace, do a flip for the crowd. Really _wow_ them.' Sabo tapped playfully, only earning another glare from the hot head while Luffy laughed loudly, clearly enjoying himself as he continued eating. Still lost, the Commanders watched on.

"I wish I knew a cool secret language," Haruta mumbled again as he watched, wondering just what the brothers were saying.

"It would make it easier to communicate with marines around." Atmos agreed. At this point, Thatch was returning from the kitchen, his food in his hand.

"I'm here! What'd I miss?" He asked as he sat down, smiling gleefully. Luffy felt himself grinning wider as he felt the happy emotions, feeling a little giddy himself now.

"Nothing much, the brothers are just speaking amongst themselves," Izo said with a smile, gesturing to the still tapping brothers.

"Ooh~! Hey, you think you guys could teach me some of that?" Thatch asked the brothers, resting his chin in his hand as he leaned forward eagerly. Sabo laughed at the chef's eagerness while Ace scoffed and Luffy smiled. The Commanders also looked interested, not having thought of just outright asking.

"I don't know, the point of something being secret is that other people don't know about it," Sabo said, pretending to look as if he was seriously considering it.

"But we could teach them the easy ones! Like, be careful, or be quiet! Oh, and you stink!" Luffy piped up, and Ace and Sabo could tell that someone was probably influencing the young teen's emotions a bit, the boy seemingly too giddy for the moment.

"I suppose we could, it would help if we needed to tell them. Also, Luffy, calm down a bit." Sabo said, messing Luffy's hair up and making the boy pout a bit.

"But there are so many happy feelings! It's nice." Luffy whined but tried to calm down, forcing himself to not let in as much of the happiness as he had been a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, but we don't want you bouncing off the walls because of it." Ace said offhandedly, shoving another sandwich into his mouth. Luffy pouted but agreed to tone down how much happiness he let in, deciding to allow some of the warmth in instead to help him calm down. Pleased, Sabo turned back to Thatch.

"As Luffy said, we could probably teach you guys some of the easier, more cautionary ones. For example, be careful." Sabo said, tapping the words out as the Commanders watched on with interest.

"Like this?" Thatch asked, tapping, though his taps were a tad too slow, and instead of, 'be careful' the chef had accidentally tapped out, 'With kittens' instead. Ace choked on his third sandwich as a laugh forced its way out, and Luffy smiled again, giggling quietly as well. Thatch blinked, looking between the brothers.

"What? What did I say?" He asked, wondering what was so funny. Sabo merely smiled, shaking his head.

"It was nothing, don't worry. You just tapped a bit too slow which changed the words completely. If you don't tap as fast as this," Sabo said, demonstrating once again the proper way to convey the words.

"Then the meaning changes," Sabo said, and Thatch nodded in understanding, becoming more determined as he tried the words out again.

"So, like this." Thatch said, trying it again, doing it the way Sabo had shown him. The blonde nodded as Luffy and Ace watched the tapping, easily deciphering it to be the words the chef had been attempting to tap.

"Exactly, just like that." Sabo praised Thatch, beaming proudly after his success.

"What's the next one? I bet I'll learn it no problem!" He boasted, a determined smile on his face as the other Commanders around him laughed and rolled their eyes. Sabo was reminded of when he was teaching Ace and Luffy how to read, Ace determined to be the best at it while Luffy merely wanted to learn because it was the only source of entertainment for him.

"Well, I could teach you, 'be quiet'." Sabo mused, wondering which one to teach next. There were a few cautionary phrases that would be beneficial to teach the Commanders, it was just a matter of which ones to teach first.

"Teaching Thatch to be quiet? Not gonna happen." Atmos rumbled jokingly, causing another round of laughter. Thatch responded with a playful glare.

"I think you're just jealous that I'm learning a cool language and you're not." Thatch teased, in turn making Atmos to return the glare.

"Am not, look, I got it." The Commander said, all eyes on him as he tapped on the table. Within seconds, Ace and Sabo were choking on their food while Luffy looked on with a look of confusion. Ace and Sabo both had wide eyes, jaws dropped a bit at whatever Atmos had said.

"What did he say?" Haruta asked, everyone, even Marco and Whitebeard concerned. The looks on Ace and Sabo's faces told them enough to know that it was anything but good.

"N-nothing, it's just-"

"Ne, Sabo, Ace, whats a big-" Ace and Sabo simultaneously slapped their hands over Luffy's mouth, stopping him from saying whatever it was he was about to say.

"Luffy, you should eat so we can go talk to Whiskey sooner. You know, don't want to keep her waiting." Ace said in a bit of a rushed voice. The Commanders were left to imagine what Atmos had said as Luffy nodded, turning to eat the rest of his food.

If what Atmos had said was bad enough that Ace was ready to go talk to a nurse, it had to have been pretty bad.

Sabo cleared his throat, slowly getting over his shock as he realized that they should be careful when teaching the Commanders any more phrases with Luffy around.

"Anyways, like with Thatch, you gotta tap at the right pace, yours was a bit too, uh, fast," Sabo explained, still trying to get the words Atmos had unknowingly tapped out of his head.

"It must have been hard to learn and make up this language if something like the speed of tapping can change the entire sentence," Rakuyo noted as Thatch taught Atmos the proper speed to tap.

"We had lots of time to practice." Ace muttered to the man as he finished his lunch, Luffy and Sabo finishing soon after as well.

"There's only so many different ways to tap. The only other way to make up new words was to find new ways to tap, and for us, that meant using the speed to our advantage. Its harder to decipher taps that all look the same." Sabo said as the brothers stood up, ready to go speak with Whiskey.

"If you want to learn more I can help you after we speak with Whiskey," Sabo told Thatch who nodded. The brothers left after that, no one asking why the brothers were going to talk with the nurse. It only took a few minutes to make their way to the infirmary, and soon they were pushing the door open, trying to ignore the anxiety rising in all of them. Luffy's nose twitched at the burning smells filling his senses while Ace scanned the room, finding the nurse almost immediately and leading his brothers towards her.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy, what can I do for you?" She asked, turning to look at them with a smile after another nurse told her they were heading her way.

"Hello Whiskey, we're here to uphold our end of a promise," Sabo replied, making Whiskey raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh? And what promise would that be?" She asked, holding a clipboard to her chest as she spoke.

"We did say that once we joined the crew officially we would tell you everything you should know about us," Sabo said with a smile. Whiskey, realizing what this meant, only nodded, turning to the nurse she had been talking to when they had walked in.

"I'll be back. Can you make sure Oyaji takes these for once? He avoided it yesterday." Whiskey said with a hint of aggravation in her voice as she handed over a pill bottle to the pink-haired nurse. There was a nod from the other nurse who scurried off, presumably to Whitebeard, while Whiskey turned to them.

"Come on, let's go to my office, we'll have more privacy there." The nurse said, already beginning to walk out of the infirmary. The three brothers shared a look, wondering if they should follow her. They were still highly distrustful of doctors and nurses, even if they were apart of the same crew now, so who's to say that she wasn't luring them away to finally attack them?

But those were thoughts that they would have to start getting over. Sure, most of the world was after them and would be after them for the rest of their lives, but that didn't mean there weren't a select few that were on their side. They just had to get used to the fact that, maybe, this crew was one of those select few, and these nurses were ones they could trust.

That trust wasn't going to be something that came easy though.

Reluctantly, the brothers decided to follow the nurse out of the room they hated. They only walked a few doors down before she opened one up and led them in. The room had filing cabinets along the entire back wall and a desk facing the door, which Whiskey went to sit at, pulling out some papers and putting them out in front of her. The brothers hesitantly walked into the room, Sabo, and Luffy sitting at the two chairs in front of the desk while Ace stood in between them, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sorry, there's not a lot of room in here, this is mostly just so we have a place to store our records on crewmembers, and seeing as I'm the head nurse they made it my office to give me a bit more space for my notes." Whiskey explained.

"It's fine, we won't be too long I don't think," Sabo said truthfully, not thinking this talk would take too long. It's not like they were telling their entire history as they'd done with the Commanders and Whitebeard.

"Whenever you want to begin, you can." She said, holding a pen to the paper as she got ready to write. Sabo nodded, wondering how he should phrase some things. He couldn't just say they all had heightened senses without questions being asked.

"Well, to begin with, you know Ace has narcolepsy, he's had it ever since he was born." Sabo started, Whiskey nodding.

"None of us have any more medical conditions like that, but the facility... gave us different abilities that normal people don't possess," Sabo said, picking his words carefully. Whiskey raised an eyebrow at this.

"Like?" She asked, deciding not to question exactly how the facility had 'given' the brothers these abilities.

"Like our senses. My hearing has been heightened to the point that I can hear things extremely far away." Sabo said as Whiskey wrote something down.

"Alright, do you know just how far you can hear?" She asked, not looking up from her paper.

"Not exactly. A quarter-mile? Maybe a bit more." Sabo guessed, not really having measured it before. Whiskey nodded as she wrote that down.

"Is everything louder? Or is everything the same volume, you can just hear further away?" Whiskey looked up, her appearance giving away nothing but a calm, professional exterior.

"Everythings louder. Whispers sound like normal talking, normal talking is like shouting." Sabo said, having come to terms with that long ago, back in the facility. It had been painful for everyone to sound like they were constantly shouting, and it took a while for Sabo to figure out how to talk normally without whispering, thinking that was normal, but it had all evened out in the end.

"How long ago was it that you're hearing was enhanced?" Sabo thought about it, knowing that it had happened sometime during their second year in the facility.

"Around five years ago." He answered dutifully.

"Did you have more ear-related injuries or illnesses since then?" And Sabo had to consider that one because, after all, that the doctors had done, it was hard to determine what was illness and what was the result of a bad drug.

"I don't know, I don't think so. When my hearing was first heightened everything was too loud to listen to and I got headaches a lot because of it, but I don't think I've had any other problems besides that." Sabo responded.

"Okay, I think that's it. What else?" Whiskey asked, looking up from her notes with a hint of a smile to reassure the brothers.

"Well, at the same time that they enhanced my hearing, they also enhanced Luffys sense of smell and Ace's eyesight," Sabo explained. Whiskey nodded, pulling out a different paper from under the stack and setting it on top.

"In that case, we'll start with Luffy. You said it was the same time, so that was five years ago." The head nurse said, more to herself as she wrote it down before continuing.

"Why don't you explain to me what your senses are like so I know what to ask." Whiskey said, giving Luffy a more noticeable smile, knowing that the brothers were still easily scared of nurses.

"I can figure out who someone is by the way they smell, and I can follow someone's smell to figure out where they're at too," Luffy said, not the best at explaining things, but doing his best.

"Alright, does that mean everyone has a particular scent that you can recognize?" Whiskey asked, needing a bit of elaboration. Luffy hummed an affirmation and she wrote some more before asking more questions.

"How long does it normally take until you cant follow someone's scent anymore?" She asked, and like Sabo, Luffy hadn't really had much practice with it to know, but he remembered Sabo saying that he overheard the doctors talking about that before.

"A week I think." He responded uncertainly.

"And like I asked Sabo, does everything smell stronger than before, or does it smell the same, you can just smell more now?" Whiskey asked.

"Stronger," Luffy answered easily, scrunching his nose up as he remembered the smell of the infirmary.

"Last question, another repeat. Since your senses were enhanced have you had an increase in nose problems? Stuffy nose, only smelling out of one side? Anything like that?" She asked, getting a head shake from Luffy.

"Nope, I don't think so. Sometimes smells burn my nose though and give me headaches." Luffy answered.

"Any smells in particular?" She asked curiously.

"Medicine, and that alcohol stuff, and those smelly salts you used that one time, oh, and anterepic? No, anselenite? No, that wasn't it either... denterpet-"

"Antiseptic, Lu." Sabo interrupted, knowing Luffy would take forever trying to pronounce the word correctly, and wouldn't get any closer to saying it right.

"Yeah, that stuff!" Luffy said with a nod. Whiskey frowned, but Luffy could tell it wasn't because she was mad at them or anything. He could feel a bit of guilt coming from the nurse, making him tilt his head curiously at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, surprising the nurse who looked up at him instead of down at her papers.

"Oh, its nothing, I just feel bad for keeping you in the infirmary. I didn't know it was hurting your nose." Whiskey said in an apologetic tone, only confusing Luffy more.

"But you didn't know, cause we didn't tell you," Luffy said matter-of-factly, causing Ace to scoff quietly.

"Yes, however I still feel responsible." Whiskey said.

"But you're not, cause we are. That's that." Luffy said stubbornly, crossing his arms as he pouted slightly. Whiskey blinked at that before smiling, holding back laughter.

"I guess you're right Luffy. Anyways, I think that's all for you, Ace, it's your turn now." She said as she pulled out another new paper, presumably the one meant for Ace. The eldest nodded, not looking excited to talk, but looking willing to none the less.

"I'm just going to go through the same question I went through with your brothers. Again, this happened five years ago, so there's that. Can you describe to me what your eyesight is like now compared to how it used to be?" Whiskey asked politely, pen at the ready.

"I can see really far away and I can see in the dark too," Ace answered shortly, though that didn't deter the nurse.

"Do you know how far away you can see?" Whiskey asked, and Ace shrugged.

"I dunno. Pretty far. Maybe about fifteen-ish miles." Ace estimated, knowing he could see pretty far away if nothing obstructed his view.

"And is it with perfect clarity the entire fifteen miles, or is it blurrier after a certain point?" The head nurse asked.

"Perfectly clear." Ace said, knowing for a fact that everything was always clear and easy to distinguish.

"What is it like in the dark?" Whiskey asked.

"Just like it is in the morning. I can see everything perfectly fine, but it's like I'm wearing sunglasses. Like it's tinted" Ace answered. Whiskey wrote this down before continuing.

"Final question, any eye-related injuries or illnesses since they've been enhanced?" She asked, looking up at Ace as she asked the question.

"I got eye strain a lot, and I got migraines too, but I haven't gotten that in a long time." Ace replied. Whiskey sighed as she wrote the last of the information down.

"Well, now that that's done, is there anything else?" She asked, and Sabo felt bad that they were, probably, overwhelming the nurse with information. It wasn't every day that your new crewmates came with a list of inhuman abilities.

"Only a couple more things Ms. Whiskey," Sabo said in a slightly apologetic tone. Whiskey nodded, getting ready to write some more.

"Ace heals at a much faster rate than a normal person. What usually takes weeks to heal will heal within days." Sabo said, and Whiskey had an immediate look of realization on her face as she looked up from her papers.

"That's why your wound healed so fast!" She exclaimed, making Sabo and Luffy laugh while Ace smiled triumphantly.

"Yes, it is. Also, this one's not as important, but it's proven to become an issue sometimes. Luffy can feel what other people are feeling. If someone is feeling really happy or mad, it can influence Luffy's own feelings so that he feels the same way, even if he was just fine moments ago." Sabo explained after calming himself down.

"The only reason I bring this up is that, after being overly influenced by a certain emotion, Luffy became so relaxed by it that he nearly passed out," Sabo said, glancing at Luffy out of the corner of his eye. Whiskey wore a frown as she nodded, jotting the note down.

"Does this happen with every emotion he feels strongly or was it just with this certain one?" Whiskey asked.

"Just that one and one more. The first one he explains as a nice, warm feeling that's relaxing which is why we think he nearly passed out from it. The other emotion isn't a good one and he describes it as suffocating basically. He's been affected by that one as well and it caused him to go into a panic attack. Other emotions don't make him like that. Anger will just make him shout and storm off and happiness will make him giddy and excited." Sabo said.

"Got it. Is that everything?" Whiskey asked, setting her pen down and looking at the brothers.

"Yes, that's everything," Sabo said with a smile, to which Whiskey smiled back.

"Well, I'm glad you three told me all of this, it will definitely help in the future." Whiskey said as she put the papers away into a filing cabinet. Sabo and Luffy stood up as Whiskey did.

"Thank you for listening," Sabo said as the brothers turned to leave the room.

He was glad that everything had gone well, glad that Whiskey hadn't pushed to know more. Even though she was a nurse and was, no doubt, curious as to how the brothers had gotten their extra abilities, she hadn't asked and hadn't been mad when the brothers didn't tell.

If only all nurses and doctors were like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Another transitioning chapter, or filler chapter even. The brothers told Whiskey about their senses and are starting to realize that, unlike the facility doctors, the nurses on the Moby aren't out to hurt them like they'd assumed all this time. We also got a bit more information on the brothers' senses in case you were curious about how far Ace could see or how far Sabo could hear.
> 
> The Commanders are also starting to learn some of the taps the brothers use too. Of course, its not as if they're going to be taught every word right away, the brothers still want to have some privacy when they tap amongst themselves, but its another huge leap of trust in the brothers to give up even just a little bit of their language to them.


	59. The Welcome Party

The brothers left Whiskey's office and headed straight to the deck without a second thought. Once upon of time, the brothers lurked around the Moby, double-checking their every step and making sure multiple times that no one was following them around. Now, they walked around easily, and even though they still checked to make sure no one was following, it wasn't nearly as often.

Walking out onto the deck they headed over to Whitebeard, noticing that only Jiru and Haruta were by the man. Walking up, the brothers sat in front of him like they had come accustomed to and gave their greetings.

"Hey, you guys are done talking with Whiskey!" Haruta said with a smile, coming over to sit with the brothers.

"We are. We just felt we should update her on a few things." Sabo said to prevent any questions that Haruta may have.

"Oh, that makes sense. Hey, do you think you could teach me some of those taps? Thatch wanted to learn too, but he's stuck in the kitchen cooking the feast for tonight." Haruta said.

"Sure, no problem. Do you want to try too, Jiru?" Sabo asked, knowing that all of the Commanders would probably want to learn it eventually, so why not try and teach as many as he could now.

"Uh, sure, why not?" Jiru said as he came to join the group, not really having expected to be included.

"Do you mind if I learn as well?" Whitebeard asked, surprising the brothers, but Sabo quickly put on a smile.

"The more the merrier. This way more people will be able to understand it." Sabo said. Luffy was smiling brightly as Sabo began reteaching the taps for be careful, Haruta and Jiru figuring it out quick enough after having seen Thatch do it a couple of times. Luffy, without Ace or Sabo noticing, had made his way up Whitebeards chair and was now sitting beside the giant's arm. The youngest brother helped Whitebeard, tapping beside the giant's finger to better show him how fast and how many times he needed to tap.

Of course, it didn't take long for Ace to notice Luffy was no longer at his side like he had thought when he turned to look at the ocean, but once he saw where he was and what he was doing, the panic went away and he opted to keep a close eye on his brother. He knew Luffy wouldn't have gotten that close to the man if he sensed any danger, and Whitebeard was someone they trusted. Besides, Luffy had done stuff like this before, but that didn't mean Ace would let his guard down.

From where Sabo sat teaching the other two Commanders, Ace knew that he had noticed Luffy's disappearance as well, and had also figured out where and what he was doing, but with his hearing, he could hear everything that was happening, so he had no qualms about letting his brother remain where he was.

This went on for a little bit, and soon Jiru, Haruta and Whitebeard all knew how to sign the words 'be careful, be quiet, and all good.' Jiru had to leave at that point to go take care of something in his division, and Haruta was called over by one of his own division members as well, leaving the brothers with Whitebeard.

Luffy was still sitting on the arm of the chair contentedly, and seeing as Whitebeard didn't look like he minded, Ace and Sabo allowed it.

"Hi, Marco!" Luffy chirped happily, waving from where he sat. Ace and Sabo turned to see that the first division Commander was walking up to them, holding something in hand.

"Hello Luffy, yoi." Marco greeted, nodding to Ace and Sabo as he reached them.

"My son, how is everything?" Whitebeard asked, watching his first mate with a smile.

"So far everyone's on task, which isn't saying much, yoi. Knowing them they'll start slacking off any second now. We're reassigning chores tomorrow, that means you three are getting some as well, yoi." Marco said, the three brothers nodding in understanding. They had been expecting it for a while now, so it was no surprise to them.

"And also, Luffy, you got a letter," Marco said, holding up the object in his hand, showing that it was an envelope. All of the brothers looked confused, because who in the world was sending them a letter? Garp and Shanks would just visit, and anyone on Dawn Island wouldn't know where they were unless Garp told them, but even then, Dadan wasn't much for letters. There was a slim chance that Makino could have sent it, but even that was unlikely.

"Really? Who's it from?" Luffy asked, jumping down from Whitebeards chair and walking up to Marco, Ace, and Sabo close behind.

"Don't know, yoi. It's only got your name on it." Marco said, handing the envelope over, and the brothers could see that it really only had Luffy's name written on it in clean handwriting. Ace frowned, not sure how he felt about all of this, while Sabo watched cautiously, ready for anything.

Luffy shrugged, and even though he was confused, he was also curious. Without any hesitation, Luffy ripped the envelope open, pulling out a folded piece of paper. A letter. Ace and Sabo peered over Luffy's shoulders, reading the words along with Luffy.

_'Dear Luffy,_

_We've never met before, and that's my fault. All I've ever wanted for you was your safety, but even that isn't something that I was able to guarantee. I thought by sending you off with your Grandfather you would have a better chance of living a normal life. Well, as normal as it can get when someone like Garp raises you._

_Obviously, I was wrong, and I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything to keep you safer. When I heard you were gone, believe me, I had my men looking everywhere for you and your brothers. Even with all of my resources, though, I was unable to successfully find you and you were lost for seven years. I will always be thankful that, in the end, you were found and taken out of that situation. Send Whitebeard my thanks for saving you, even if he didn't have a clue who you were._

_You may or may not know this already, but I am your father. Due to my current profession, I am unable to visit you like I would have hoped to, so instead, I'm sending this letter. You may hate me, or you may not even care about me, but I do care about you, you are my son after all. Inside the envelope, I've sent you a piece of my vivre card with my number on it. Keep it safe, and keep it hidden. Not many have that kind of information, and if it were to get into the wrong hands, many things could be jeopardized. However, just know that, if you ever need my help or anything at all, just give me a call or follow my vivre card and I will do my best._

_Being the leader of the Revolutionaries means I'm a highly wanted man. It means I have to be careful with everything I do. However, you are my son first and foremost._

_If you decide to disregard everything in this letter, I understand._

_Your Father, Dragon'_

Ace and Sabo both looked at each other, eyes slightly larger then they had been before. Luffy merely looked confused by the whole thing but understood now that this was from his father, and it was important. Looking back in the envelope, he saw the vivre card his father had mentioned, pulling it out and briefly noticing the number on it. Without a hint of hesitation, Luffy tucked the paper in the ribbon of his hat, where he kept Shanks' vivre card.

"Man, I didn't think your old man even knew you existed." Ace confessed. After all, Luffy hadn't gotten anything like this before. Garp hadn't even willingly mentioned to them who the boys' father was, it had been an accident.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked, still not knowing who the letter was from. Whitebeard watched from where he sat, not saying anything, but obviously curious as well.

"Its a letter from Luffy's father. It's just, he's never sent him anything before. They've never met as far as I'm aware." Sabo explained, remembering how confused Luffy had been at the prospect that he even had a father.

"His father, huh? It's still hard to imagine that Garp managed to even have children, yoi." Marco said, Ace and Sabo agreeing with him. Whitebeard and Marco knew that the brothers weren't blood-related due to the fact that Ace's father was Gol D. Roger, but they didn't have a clue as to who Sabo and Luffy's parents were. All they knew was that whoever Garp's son was, that was Luffy's father.

"He says thanks for saving me," Luffy said, looking up at Whitebeard who smiled back at him.

"It was no problem," Whitebeard answered easily, knowing he would have done it again if given the chance. With that said, Luffy folded the letter back up and put it back in the envelope.

"Why don't we go put that in our room. Thatch is finishing the feast up now, so by the time we're done we can go eat." Sabo said, and Marco and Whitebeard suddenly remembered the blondes heightened hearing.

That was definitely something that would take some getting used to.

"Mm. I can't wait, there's gonna be so much food! It smells sooo~ good!" Luffy cheered, a smile suddenly on his face at the mention of the feast and drool seeping from the corner of his mouth as the three brothers beginning to walk away. It was weird that the pirates now knew about the brothers' abilities, at least, the Commanders and Whitebeard did. Now they didn't have to hide it, they didn't have to keep things they noticed quiet, they weren't forcing themselves to look like normal, defenseless teenagers.

The trip to their room was quick, and Luffy put the envelope in the desk drawer before they headed back out to the deck where, as Sabo predicted, Thatch was announcing that dinner was ready. There were cheers from the crew as everyone made their way into the galley, the brothers waiting for the crowd to die down before walking in.

To say it was a feast would be putting it lightly. Food was piled high on platters and plates, everyone taking as much as they could handle without fear of taking too much because even if every person there took three plates, there was still plenty of food for everyone else.

The brothers made their way through the excited crew, reaching the Commander's table and sitting down quickly. As if on cue Thatch came up to them, plates filled with an assortment of food in his hands.

"Here you go!" Thatch said, setting the food down in front of them. Luffy beamed, thanking the chef quickly before digging in, Ace doing the same beside him. Sabo laughed, shaking his head, but thanked the chef as well, also beginning to eat.

The room was loud and rambunctious for a few minutes as everyone got their plates and settled down, and once that happened, Whitebeard stood, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"As you all may have realized, there is a reason for this celebration tonight. After a month of staying here on the ship, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy have decided to officially join the crew, and I expect everyone to give them a warm welcome." Whitebeard announced, everyone, cheering happily and shouting warm welcomes to the brothers from where they sat.

"With that said, let the festivities begin!" Whitebeard cheered with a smile, lifting a mug with alcohol in it, Luffy recognizing the smell easily. Everyone in the room cheered again before digging in, chatting loudly with their friends as they did. Drinks were poured and somewhere along the line people began singing cheerfully.

Ace and Sabo didn't even bother trying to get Luffy to be careful with how much happiness he let in because, in a room where everyone was being boisterous and cheerful, it would be impossible for Luffy not to be influenced by it.

As expected, within seconds Luffy was wearing an enormous smile, shoveling food into his mouth as fast as his limbs allowed it. The young teen was bouncing slightly in his seat which made Ace and Sabo laugh. The other Commanders noticed the kids excitement and smiled to themselves, not even thinking that it could be due to Luffy being influenced, thinking he was merely enjoying himself.

Even though the brothers were now outed and the Commanders now knew about their powers, it still didn't feel real. Even though Luffy knew he could stretch his arm to grab that roll, he didn't because he was still in the mindset that he should avoid using his power at all times. Even though Ace could heat the chicken back up after it began to cool down a bit too much, he stopped himself.

Even though the brothers had been using their senses all day, and had mentioned them a few times in front of others, it still wasn't all that natural yet to use the abilities they had in front of others.

"So, do you guys think you're gonna get a tattoo?" Blenheim asked suddenly, gesturing to his own tattoo that represented him being apart of the crew. The brothers looked to each other before shrugging.

"We don't know, we haven't thought about it," Sabo said truthfully. When they made the decision to join, they hadn't once thought about whether they were going to get a tattoo.

They had had much more pressing things on their minds.

"It's no big deal if you don't. Besides, it's not like its a requirement." Curiel said with a reassuring smile, letting the brothers know that they weren't going to be pressured into it.

"We'll think about it." Sabo decided, the Commanders nodding in understanding. The party continued on, and soon it was moved from the galley and to the deck, everyone carrying their mugs of alcohol with them and singing joyously into the night. It was getting a bit dark out now, but that didn't stop anyone as a few people left to go bring out instruments. The sky was littered with stars, the moon full and bright, illuminating the dancing pirates.

It had been far too long since the brothers had been near people so cheerful and happy. Even back with the bandits, they hadn't been around enough to witness their parties in full swing. They usually only ever came when everyone was already passed out drunk on the floor.

Now, however, they were right in the middle of the festivities, and it was clear that Luffy found no issue with it. Whether it was because of the emotions influencing his own, or because he was truly enjoying it, no one would know, but at that moment Ace and Sabo had a sudden realization.

For the past year, Luffy had barely been recognizable as the boy who laughed and smiled easily. There had been no trace of the joyous child who ran up to strangers and looked at the world with wide innocent eyes. That boy had left after those doctors had forced him to do horrible things.

And for that entire year, it was a hassle to get Luffy to even respond to them, much less get him to smile. This past month with the Whitebeards though had changed him. For the better. Where the facility had taken that smile, taken that happy laugh, the Whitebeards brought it back tenfold. Luffy looked as happy as he had when running through the jungle with his older brothers. He looked like that innocent kid who loved anything and everything.

It was a harsh contrast to just a month ago, where he had looked lifeless. Emotionless.

If this was what the Whitebeards could do, if their baby brother could find his happiness here with these people, then Ace and Sabo were glad they had made the decision to join.

"Ace, Sabo, come on, sing too!" Luffy laughed out as he sang a horrible off-key rendition of Binks Sake. Ace and Sabo smiled to each other before relenting and joining their brother in his singing along with a few other dozens of pirates.

Sure, things had started off rough, sure they still had a long ways to go, and sure, the brothers were nowhere near healed yet, but this was definitely a good start. Telling them their past had only been the start, and the journey to properly healing could finally begin.

Luffy may leave one day, may go off to make his own crew, and fight for his dream of becoming the next Pirate King, but until then, his brothers were going to stay by his side and do everything in their power to keep that smile on his face. Too many days had gone by where they hadn't seen it, and now that it was back, it was something that they were never going to let go of again. Teach could be damned. If that bastard was going to be apart of the same crew as them, they were just going to have to watch him closely like Whitebeard had said. They would keep Luffy away from that man, they would keep that darkness from creeping into their brother, and they would keep any damn marines trying to take him away from them as far away as they could.

Luffy was their precious baby brother and they were going to do everything in their power as his older brothers to keep him safe. Anyone who had a problem with that would be met with a fist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Now that they've celebrated, they're officially, officially apart of the Whitebeards! The brothers no longer need to hide their abilities, so they'll start using them more and more in front of everyone, but as mentioned, its difficult for them to suddenly go from restraining themselves all the time to letting loose in a matter of a few hours.
> 
> Also, we haven't seen much of Dragon in the anime, so I don't really have a good idea of his character and how he would act, but I tried my best to stay in character for the letter he wrote Luffy. Dragon doesn't seem like someone who would express a lot of emotion, but I feel like he would have worried about Luffy during the time he was missing, and finding out he'd been rescued, I imagine he would have been relieved. All in all, I feel like he cares about Luffy, even if he hasn't really interacted with him, which is why I wanted to have him write a letter, but didn't have him show up himself. As mentioned before, he is the leader of the Revolutionaries after all, it would be difficult for him to see Luffy in person on Whitebeards ship no less.
> 
> Finally, some of you noticed last chapter that the brothers didn't mention their devil fruits to Whiskey. I completely forgot to add them telling her about Ace and Luffys devil fruits. It was something I had intended on writing, but by the time I got to that scene, I completely forgot to have them mention it. When I was rereading it, I knew I was missing something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Thank you to everyone who pointed that out! I think I'll go back and add that in, and if I do I'll be sure to tell you all so you can go and read it if you want, but honestly, it'll probably only be a sentence or two more.


	60. Taking the Mark

The next morning was slow going for most of the Whitebeard pirates. The festivities of the night before had left them all partying late into the night, and now that they were getting up they were facing the repercussions of one too many drinks.

The brothers, of course, were just fine seeing as they hadn't had any alcohol the night before, and they had gone to bed relatively early in the night compared to everyone else. They may be trying to get used to everyone, but there was no chance that they were going to allow themselves to pass out on the deck like everyone else was doing. Instead, they had gone to their room to sleep, even though Sabo had a bit of a hard time doing that with his enhanced hearing picking up the loud partying out on the deck.

Now, however, was a new day. The brothers left their rooms and made their way to the deck where many were still passed out. The few who were up were nursing headaches from their hangovers and moving sluggishly around as if it pained them to do so. Whitebeard was sitting in his chair, not looking bothered at all, and Marco stood dutifully at his side, also looking unaffected.

Breakfast was being made from what Sabo could hear, so that meant at least a few of the chefs weren't too bad off, Thatch being one of them. It was already a little later in the day than usual for breakfast to still be cooking, but that was alright seeing as most of the crew was still incapacitated.

Slowly, one by one, the pirates woke up and headed off to their rooms to get ready for the day, most, if not all, suffering from a hangover as they did so.

The brothers only laughed quietly to themselves as they made their way over to the railing by Whitebeard, assuming their normal positions as they did. Marco noticed them quickly and made his way over, and seeing as they were apart of the crew now, the brothers felt that they should start getting used to people wanting to come converse with them more. That didn't stop Luffy from doing a quick scan to make sure there was no ill intent in Marco, however. Of course, he didn't expect there to be any, Marco was someone he trusted, but he just wanted to be sure.

"Good morning, yoi." Marco greeted as he reached them. Sabo and Luffy both smiled to him while Ace only watched with a blank face, forcing himself to keep a glare or scowl off his face. He was supposed to be trying to make friends, and that meant not scaring them all off like he had been doing. Of course, none of the Commanders had ever been deterred by his glares before.

"Good morning Marco." Sabo greeted back pleasantly, wondering what the Commander would want.

"How was your first Whitebeard party?" Marco asked, turning to look at his ship brothers who were still pulling themselves off the deck floor. Sabo laughed, watching the crew as well.

"It was definitely interesting, to say the least," Sabo admitted, thinking back to when Rakuyo wanted to do karaoke and had stood on a barrel in an attempt to get higher up, only to end up on his back after the barrel swayed out from under him. Marco smiled, no doubt thinking of many of the other crazy events that had happened last night.

"That's putting it mildly, yoi," Marco said in an amused tone.

"I had fun! Everyone was really happy, and happy feelings are always the best!" Luffy said cheerfully, legs swinging as he held onto the railing underneath him.

"Yeah, you sure let in a lot of happy emotions last night." Ace piped in, sending Luffy a small smile, remembering the boy bouncing around the deck, Ace and Sabo having to chase him down the entire night.

"Shishishi~ I couldn't help it!" Luffy laughed, not sounding sorry about it in the least because he wasn't. Ace rolled his eyes but said nothing more.

"Is it a bad thing to take in too much emotion, yoi?" Marco asked, genuinely curious if they should try and prevent it from happening.

"It all depends on the emotion really. It's fine if he lets in happiness, it just makes it harder to keep an eye on him because he likes to run around more. Anger would probably be one of the ones to prevent him from getting too much of. It makes him unpredictable. Really, those are the only emotions he's been overly influenced by besides warmth, but you already know about that one, and darkness." Sabo said with a shrug.

When it came to other emotions they didn't have much experience on how Luffy would react when given too much of something like sadness or maliciousness. Sure, they had been around plenty of those particular emotions in the facility, but Luffy had always done a good job of shutting them out and focusing solely on Ace and Sabos emotions. Of course, it helped that at the time there was nothing else for him to focus on besides keeping the emotions in check. Now, however, he had much more to be worried about, which made him much more susceptible to outside influences.

"Right, well let's hope we don't have to worry about that too much, yoi," Marco said, not wanting Luffy to have any problems with his ability. Especially if it has a possibility of hurting him.

As the group talked, the pirates all managed to wake themselves up and disperse, most heading below deck to get ready for the day while the ones who woke up earlier were back out on the deck. Most looked groggy while there were a select few who looked fine. Whether it was because they didn't drink too much or because they could handle alcohol better then the others was unknown.

"Breakfast is ready. It was nice talking to you, Commander." Sabo said, first addressing his brothers, and then addressing Marco who smiled.

"It was nice talking to you three too. Oh, and remember, we're reassigning chores for the month today so you should stay out on deck after breakfast, yoi." Marco said. Sabo nodded their understanding as the trio got up, heading to the galley seconds before the breakfast bell rang, announcing that food was being served.

There was no need to worry about being mobbed trying to get in the galley seeing as more than half the crew was still trying to get ready. Keyword, trying. Sabo could hear many fumbling with their clothes and shoes, some tripping and falling over in an attempt to put their pants on. Sabo suppressed a smile as he and his brothers sat at the Commander's table, taking their usual spots.

There was a small trickle of pirates, mostly the Commanders, who made their way into the galley. Whitebeard was one of the few to enter, joining the brothers at the table. Thatch came out, holding trays of food as he walked their way. The chef looked relatively alright, but Sabo knew he had seen him taking more than a few drinks the night before.

Breakfast passed by quietly, the rest of the crew managing to arrive before it was too late, but no one was up for loud noise or conversation, which was just fine for the brothers. It was odd though because, after all this time of being with the pirates, this was the first time they had all been quiet, save for when they were sleeping.

True to his word, Marco announced the new chore list as soon as everyone had finished their breakfast. The brothers had waited patiently on the railing after they had finished eating, and after about an hour, Marco had made the announcement. By then, most of the crew were feeling better and the lively attitude was picking up again. More chatter and laughter could be heard instead of the painful silence.

As expected, the brothers were given chores as well, which was something they intended on doing. Unlike when they lived with Dadan, they felt they should do chores here, if only because they wanted to stay on the pirates' good side. Back when they lived with Dadan she had tried to make them do chores, but they'd always blown her off, and eventually left completely, for the most part, to live in the forest, so there was no reason for them to do chores.

Here, however, they were living for free, and not only that, but they had no doubt cost the crew a lot of money due to their eating habits. The least they could do was some easy chores.

At least, that's what they had thought.

It soon turned out, though, that Luffy should not be allowed near any chore what-so-ever. The brothers had been given the same chores, so they didn't need to split up, which turned out to be a good thing because the first thing they did, washing dishes, made them realize Luffy didn't know a single thing about... anything really.

The boy had taken the dishes and began washing them in a bucket that had been used to clean the kitchen floor. Sabo noticed quickly and redirected the boy to the sink where he showed him how to properly clean the plate, only... Luffy seemed to have a knack for letting the dishes slip from his hands and nearly break in the sink.

After the third time it happened, Ace had gotten frustrated from where he was drying the dishes and made Luffy switch spots with him so the youngest didn't break anything.

Of course, that didn't work either, and now Luffy was dropping the dry dishes.

"You know what Luffy, why don't you just stand right there while Ace and I finish this up?" Sabo asked with a smile, putting his hands on Luffy's shoulders and guiding him to stand a bit away, to make sure he couldn't do any harm. Luffy pouted but did as told.

"Man, you should have tried doing chores when Dadan asked you to, I bet she would have stopped asking after your first try." Ace mumbled, earning a nudge from Sabo's shoulder.

"It's not my fault all the dishes were slippery!" Luffy whined, folding his arms over his chest.

"We know that Lu, Ace just thinks he's funny," Sabo said as Ace huffed in annoyance.

After that, chores went by smoothly. It was found that, with constant supervision, Luffy had no problem swabbing the deck, seeming to actually enjoy the activity if his smile was anything to go by. There were a few times where the boy had nearly slipped, but that's where the constant supervision came in and Ace or Sabo would be there to catch him.

Those were the only two chores they had for the day and would have for most days, and the brothers were a bit bummed when they finished before lunch. The chores had given them something to do other than sit around. It wasn't all that bad though because at least now they were trying to make friends with people and didn't have to be so on guard anymore.

As Sabo and Luffy sat on the railing Ace watched the crew go about their day, his eyes flickering to the tattoos that adorned most members' skin. Not all of their tattoos were visible, and not everyone had them, but the majority were proudly showing off their own mark, symbolizing them as a Whitebeard Pirate. Glancing down at his wrist, Ace narrowed his eyes at his own tattoo, one that he didn't have because he wanted it, one that he was forced to get, one that marked him as a test subject.

Flipping his wrist over so he didn't have to see the numbers anymore, Ace looked back at the others' tattoos.

"Did you guys want to get the Whitebeard tattoo?" Ace suddenly piped up, shocking Sabo and Luffy from their cloud gazing. The two turned their heads to look at Ace, Sabo with a raised eyebrow and Luffy with a look of confusion.

"I don't know, we never really discussed it. I don't think I would be entirely against it though." Sabo replied, not quite sure where his brother was going with the question.

"If Ace and Sabo got one, I would get one too. They look pretty cool too!" Luffy chirped happily, turning to look at the tattoos as well. The eldest was quiet for a minute as he frowned, still staring at the tattoos on his, now crew mates, skin.

"Well then, why don't we go get them?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"There you go, remember, avoid falling in the water for the time being." A Whitebeard crew member by the name of Percy said. Sabo smiled and thanked the man as he examined his right shoulder where the Whitebeard mark sat proudly in purple, permanent ink.

"Shsihishi, Sabo look, mine's done too!" Luffy cheered happily, his shirt off to expose his chest where he also had the same tattoo as Sabo, but his was over his heart.

"It is. It looks good too!" Sabo complimented, turning to look toward their eldest brother who was laying on his stomach, his own tattoo taking more time to complete than theirs. It was nearly done now though, Sabo and Luffy having gotten theirs done a half-hour into Ace starting his.

His shirt was also off as another crew member, Riley, tattooed across Aces back, using the same design Sabo and Luffy had used, the skull and crossbones rather than the simpler cross and crescent. Not only had he had that done, though, but he had also gotten a much simpler tattoo on his arm. Down his arm, he had the letters ASL written vertically, an X going through the S in simple, serifed bold letters. Sabo had asked Ace about it, and the eldest had merely brought up the flag design they had used so long ago, the crossbones having been behind the S on the flag which was why there was an X through the S.

It was well known that the brothers had a fear of needles, but the needles used for tattooing didn't bother the brothers in the slightest. Sabo guessed that it was because they knew it would just be ink, or maybe it was because it wasn't a syringe, but whatever the case, the brothers had no issue in sitting still for the tattoo artists.

"Seems you're all done as well Ace!" Riley announced, wiping the tattoo before Ace began sitting up.

"Thanks." Ace said simply as Riley held up a mirror, angling it into another mirror so Ace could see it properly.

"Looks good." Ace said with a grin, Sabo, and Luffy nodding their agreement as they examined the two tattoos.

All in all, the brothers were extremely pleased.

They had waited until after lunch to do this, but now it was dinner, Aces tattoo having taken a bit of time to complete, so as the brothers walked out, they saw the deck was empty, the galley as loud as usual during meal times.

Ace was still shirtless so as to not irritate the fresh tattoo, Luffy as well, while Sabo was wearing a tank top opposed to his usual long-sleeved shirts for the same reasons.

Needless to say, when they walked into the galley, all eyes went to them.

Luffy did a good job of ignoring it, whether he meant to or not. He was chatting happily with Ace, a bright smile on his face as he unknowingly showed off the tattoo on his chest. Ace did his best to focus on Luffy rather than the many eyes on them while Sabo listened closely to everyone but also tried looking like he was focused on Luffy's words.

All of the brothers knew that their bodies could be a shock to some people, scars, and burns littering their chests, and Ace and Luffy were now on display for them. Luffy didn't have a lot of scars seeing as he was rubber, but he had plenty of burn marks covering his chest instead. Ace had scars from both burns and cuts all over his chest, and some on his arms as well, the same going for Sabo who normally had his arms completely hidden, though now he was showing off the few scars that poked out from his tank top.

With that said, the pirates were both shocked by the new tattoos each brother sported, but also the multitude of scars and burns that they hadn't seen before. By the time they got to the table, most had gotten over their shock and instead everyone was beginning to cheer happily. As they sat they were given some pats on the back from the Commanders, some complimenting them on their tattoos, and others merely smiling in their direction. There were some questions on Aces tattoo, but Ace merely shrugged them off in favor of eating.

"Guess that means you're officially, _officially_ apart of the family now!" Haruta said happily, smiling to them.

"Guess so. Now you can't get rid of us that easily." Sabo joked back easily, finding that it was becoming much easier to joke around with the Commanders. Some laughed at Sabo's words and conversations started once again, the table going back to normal. The trio was extremely grateful no one brought up their scars, knowing that they may be curious, but they weren't exactly ready to share how they'd gotten every single one of their scars.

"Hey, I have a question, and if you don't want to answer it that's completely ok, I mean, I'm sure you probably thought about it, but I was just wondering and I know its a bit of a sensitive topic, but-"

"Its alright Thatch, just ask," Sabo said with a gentle smile to the rambling chef.

"Well, it's just that I was wondering, you know, why didn't you cover your numbers? I mean, I understand that you might not have wanted to, but I was just curious. Again, you don't need to answer if you don't want to!" Thatch said, still unsure of if he should have even asked the question. The brothers glanced to each other.

They _had_ thought about covering their numbers, and with good reason too. It would have been easy to, and it would save them a lot of trouble later down the road when it came to Marines.

"No, it's fine, you're right, we did think about it," Sabo said, all the Commanders listening, waiting for an answer. They hadn't thought about the brothers covering their tattoos, but now that Thatch mentioned it, they were curious as well.

"But?" Atmos asked curiously, prodding Sabo to continue, but understanding if he didn't want to.

"But, we didn't. We felt like... like if we covered them it would be like pretending what happened there didn't exist. Sure, we could have covered it, but we still have the memories of that place, the memories of all those other children who have these same tattoos on their wrist and might not be as lucky as us to just cover them up." Sabo explained as he stared at his wrist, his number glaring up at him as if mocking him.

"Oh. That makes sense." Thatch said with a nod as he continued eating his dinner, a smile on his face. Sabo smiled back, also returning to his food. Everyone else did the same, no one else saying another word on the subject, because there was no need for any more words, everyone understood.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

That night, the brothers lay in their beds, all of them feeling their respective tattoos still throbbing on their skin. It was nothing compared to the pain they'd felt back in the facility, and it was almost soothing to them. Grounding even.

The mark that showed they were apart of something. The mark that showed they were protected. The mark that signified that they had a family.

It was a happy reminder that they would now have forever, something that they would always be able to look at and remember they had people who accepted them, past and all.

"I'm still gonna become Pirate King one day."

Ace and Sabo both laughed at their little brothers' words, Ace ruffling the youngest's hair while Sabo patted Luffy's hand with his own.

"We believe you Lu."


	61. Nightmares and a Fight

Of course, after every good day, the brothers always have to have a bad one.

Even though they had all gone to sleep happy, happier then they had been in a long _long_ time, the same couldn't be said about the way they woke up.

Sabo was stuck in a nightmare, and it wasn't a good one either apparently. Even though thirteen minutes had passed since the blonde had woken Ace and Luffy, they were having no luck in waking their brother up, no matter how hard they tried.

They didn't have Sabo's great sense of hearing, so they had no clue if breakfast was ready or not, or even if breakfast was being made yet. They had no sense of whether the crew was worrying if they would show up, or if the crew was even awake yet. Without Sabo, their knowledge of everyone outside their door was unknown to them, and that was a bit terrifying to them, especially seeing as this was something they did not need someone just wandering into unexpectedly.

"Sabo, calm down, its morning, we're on the Moby Dick, we're with the Whitebeard Pirates, we're out of that shitty place." Ace said in as soothing a voice he could manage with how anxious he was getting. Luffy sat beside the blonde, holding his sleeping brother's hand in his own as he watched with worry, stretching out his haki as best he could to make sure no one was heading their way, using his sense of smell to help as well. It wasn't as good as Sabo, but it would help for the time being.

"Ssh, ssh, it's ok, it's just a nightmare." Ace soothed as Sabo thrashed a bit. Ace and Sabo got stuck in their nightmares much more sparingly then Luffy, but when they did get stuck, they were normally pretty bad nightmares.

"Come on, you can do it, just wake up and you'll see that everything's fine now." Ace encouraged, hoping that his brother would just open his eyes.

Another few minutes of coaxing the blonde passed, but they weren't without reward. After the seventeenth minute of Sabo being stuck, he finally woke up, springing up in the bed and gasping loudly, as if he had been deprived of air until then. His eyes were wide as he heaved, chest rising and falling quickly as he tried to catch his breath.

Luffy rubbed Sabo's back quietly while Ace continued to do his best to soothe the blonde, whispering quiet, reassuring words to him in hopes of calming him down some more. Another minute passed before Sabo got a hold of himself, sitting up straighter as he looked at his brothers. Briefly, he noticed their tattoos, looking to his own and finding comfort in it. It was definitive proof that they weren't back in the facility.

No words were spoken because honestly, none needed to be. This had happened to them before, and it would no doubt happen again. It was routine, just something they'd all come to terms with, so when they got up and got ready for the day, nothing needed to be said about what had happened.

If they ever wanted to talk about their nightmares, they could, and they all knew that. There was no need for words.

"Breakfast only just started. How long was I stuck?" Sabo asked in a slightly more groggy than usual voice.

"Seventeen minutes," Luffy said, having been in charge of keeping count. Sabo nodded, getting dressed quickly along with his brothers before they left their room.

Like Ace and Luffy had guessed, Sabo had had a particularly unpleasant nightmare, and it hadn't left him in the best of moods. Everyone at breakfast seemed to take notice of this, realizing that where Sabo usually wore a pleasant smile, he wore a frown as he glared at his food, pushing it around on his plate. Luffy and Ace looked just fine however if a bit more guarded then they normally were.

Sabo ate his food eventually, maybe a bit slower than normal, so the Commanders and Whitebeard decided not to ask, figuring Ace and Luffy had the issue covered. For all they knew, it was something the blonde wouldn't want to talk about in the first place, at least, not with them. They understood that, even though the brothers had revealed their dark past to them, that didn't mean they were going to tell them everything about themselves. That was something they would have to earn with time and trust.

So when the brothers left the galley, the commanders watched them go silently.

As time passed, it seemed to be the right decision, because shortly after breakfast, Sabo was smiling again, as if he hadn't been grumpy this morning. They chalked it off to a bad nights sleep and it was left at that.

The brothers did their chores, finishing before lunch again, and were now sitting in their usual spot. Sabo had gotten over his nightmare a bit easier than he usually did. Normally after a nightmare, the brothers would be bothered by it for the rest of the day, or at least up until dinner, but he'd gotten over his in record time. Maybe it was because of all the distractions on the Moby, maybe it was because Luffy was so blindingly happy that particular day, or maybe it was even because Sabo had enjoyed Thatch's cooking much more than usual. Whatever it was, Sabo didn't mind as he sat with Luffy, picking out clouds that they found to look a particular shape or animal.

Time passed peacefully, slowly. A few crew members that they didn't quite know the names of yet came up and said hi, some introducing themselves before leaving, and the brothers allowed it.

It was a change that many onboard noticed. Once upon a time, the brothers had kept anyone that attempted conversation away with a glare or even just ignoring them, but now they were allowing people to not only walk up to them but have small conversations. Some were still a bit cautious about the whole change, not quite sure if they were allowed to walk up and talk, but once they saw the first one do it, they all decided it was alright.

Not everyone on deck knew about their past or even their abilities, but they did know that they were apart of the crew now, and they chalked it up to the brothers opening up to their new crew members.

"Ace," Sabo said, calling his brother. It was one of the brief times that no one was bothering the brothers, and now that the noise around them had quieted slightly, Sabo swore he could hear something. Ace peeked an eye open in confusion, looking up at Sabo, wondering what he wanted.

"Do you see anything over there?" Sabo asked, pointing off in a seemingly random direction. The brothers were sitting close enough to Whitebeard and the few Commanders next to him that they heard the conversation, and they watched with interest as Ace stood up, leaning on the railing as he looked in the direction his brother pointed to.

"Ah, yeah, there's a ship over there." Ace said, easily picking out the ship out of the vast blue sea. The Commanders raised their eyebrows at that, Marco coming over.

"Do you see what kind of ship it is, yoi?" Marco asked, curious. Ace was silent for a second, scanning the sails for any indication on who could be commanding the ship.

"Mm, looks pretty plain... oh, I think its a pirate ship. Its got a jolly roger." Ace said, noticing the black flag with the skull on it.

"Can you see what it looks like?" Haruta asked. He and Izo, along with Blenheim and Rakuyo stood beside Whitebeard, listening closely.

"Its a skull with roses for eyes and vines around the skull instead of crossbones." Ace described.

"Is it heading towards us?" Blenheim asked, looking out at the ocean and trying to see what Ace was seeing. Of course, he saw nothing, not even a speck.

"Yup." Ace answered easily.

"How many people?" Sabo asked, curious himself.

"100... maybe 125 actually. Not counting however many are inside." Ace said, leaning away from the rail and looking to Marco who nodded, taking in the information. The first mate turned to Whitebeard who grinned.

"We'll see if they want a fight. For now, warn everyone that there's an unknown pirate ship heading our way." Whitebeard said. Marco nodded at the order and began shouting orders to the crew that had been oblivious to what was happening. The brothers watched as the Commanders came out on deck just in case, even Thatch who had been in the middle of cooking lunch.

"How did you know there were pirates?" Thatch asked, squinting as he tried making out the tiny dot that was now visible to them.

"I heard them so I asked Ace if there was anything over there. Pirates are particularly loud you know." Sabo said, still listening to the crew that was off in the distance.

"You could see that far away?" Fossa asked, amazed. Ace nodded, doing his best to not say 'I told you so.'

"Well yeah, we did tell you that." He opted for, shrugging as if it was no big deal, and technically, it wasn't I told you so, it was _we_ told you so.

"Can you hear what they're saying right now?" Izo asked Sabo.

"Yeah, they were a bit too far away before but they're getting clearer the closer they get. I think they're getting themselves riled up." Sabo said, hearing one of the rival pirates talking in a loud, motivating voice, the crew cheering in response.

"Sounds like a fight to me," Jozu said with a grin.

"We'll only attack if they do so first," Whitebeard said though he was still smiling.

"Ne, can we fight too then?" Luffy asked, turning to look at the Captain with a grin. All three of the brothers were still itching to fight, and even though they were outed about they're powers, Ace and Luffy still hadn't had reason to use them yet, meaning they were still aching to.

"We don't know how well you three can fight, so if you stay near Marco it should be fine," Whitebeard said, not wanting the brothers to get hurt if it could be helped.

"Yosh! Did you hear that Ace? Sabo? We get to fight too!" Luffy cheered happily, the crew watching the youngest with an amused expression. Those who weren't Commanders didn't know that they could fight, so they were a little confused but trusted their Oyaji.

"We did, Lu. Hopefully, they're better fighters than that idiot Decken was." Ace grumbled.

"You're still hung up on that? Geez, talk about holding grudges." Sabo teased, rolling his eyes. Ace glared at him, pouting as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You and Luffy at least got to fight more than one idiot who talked too much." Ace retorted, though it wasn't much of a comeback. Sabo and Luffy laughed at that before noticing that the ship was growing ever so slowly closer.

Last-minute preparations were made now that others could clearly see the jolly roger. A few went around, making sure everyone who needed them had weapons, while those in the crow's nest made their way down. The crew chatted amongst themselves for a while until the ship was finally close enough to communicate with.

It was apparent rather quickly that this was an enemy ship.

Weapons were drawn on the rival pirate ship, all of them looking ready to jump onto the Moby despite the fact that their ship was significantly smaller than it.

"Whitebeard, we're here to take your head once and for all!" They assumed it was the Captain that shouted the words, but it was unclear as someone placed planks down and they were soon being boarded, the enemy pirates quickly making their way over.

From then on, the fight began.

As promised, the brothers were allowed to fight, and when the first person tried to attack them, that's what they did. They made sure that Marco was close by before attacking, and once they did, they fell back into the easy rhythm they'd always had when fighting with each other.

Ace easily dodged a swipe from a sword, even though it wouldn't have harmed him, and used his momentum to swing his leg out and kick the man in the side, sending him flying over to the railing. Beside him, Luffy used a mans body as a springboard, pushing off the man's shoulders and using his newfound height to swing his fist into another rival prates face. Sabo easily knocked the man Luffy had used as a springboard to the floor, sweeping his legs out from under him.

The fight was a much-needed warm-up for the brothers, one they hadn't had in a long time. Even though they did a lot of fighting in the facility, none of it was enjoyable. It was all forced upon them, and it was always against people who couldn't even defend themselves.

Now, though, it was something that they could lose themselves in. These rival pirates had attacked them first, this was something they should have known was going to happen, and these people were those who could defend themselves, though they were doing so rather poorly. This was a fight that the brothers had been waiting for.

"Higan!" Ace's call of his attack was heard amongst his brothers as Ace squatted a bit, turning his fingers into guns and shooting fire bullets out at their opponents. Without missing a beat, Luffy ran towards those who survived the initial attack, jumping into the air once more and throwing his fists back.

"Gum Gum no Gatling!" Rapidly, Luffy's fists attacked all those who had still been standing, sending them crashing into the railing, or even into the sea.

Sabo watched his brothers' backs, easily blocking and returning punches with quick succession. It was quite obvious to both parties that the Whitebeard Pirates were the victors of this fight far before it was even over. After punching a few more pirates, the brothers watched as the rivals evacuated the Moby, returning to their ship with their tails between their legs and sailing off as the Whitebeards cheered in victory.

Luffy grinned widely, teeth showing as he stretched his arms in the air.

"That felt good!" Luffy exclaimed happily, letting his arms stretch slightly longer than a normal humans arms stretch.

"No kidding, I feel like I haven't used my fire in ages!" Ace agreed, watching his fire dance across his fingertips. The crew members who didn't know about the brothers' abilities watched in both shock and amazement as they showed off both their fighting abilities as well as their devil fruits.

"You guys are pretty good fighters!" Vista complimented from where he stood, not too far off. Sabo smiled at him.

"Thank you, as we said, we've had a lot of practice," Sabo said, ignoring the twinge of guilt as he remembered just who they had practiced against.

"You can definitely hold your own, that's for sure," Curiel said, the others nodding their agreement. Luffy continued beaming at the praise, basking in the feelings that came from the Commanders. A few more words of praise were said, along with a few questions about their abilities, before the lunch bell rang and the crew began making their way inside to eat.

As they all made their way inside there was the distinct sound of someone slipping and falling onto the floor with a loud thud, the chatter quieting down as everyone turned to see what had happened.

The brothers, who were at the back of the crowd, easily saw that on one of the stairs leading down from the top deck, Marco had tripped on something, and he looked to be fuming about it. Everyone watched as the first Commander glared at something on the ground before looking to the galley doors that the crowd was half in and half out of.

"Thatch, I swear, this is not happening again! Come get your damn fishing poles off these stairs or so help me you will not have hair by dinner!" Everyone watched in shocked amusement as the pompadoured chef came bursting through the crowd, a panicked look on his face as he began screaming apologies.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just, there was lunch to make, and then the pirate attack, and then Haruta was telling me this weird story about frogs, and then lunch was ready, and-"

"Thatch, I could really care less about that, just pick your damn poles up and put them away, yoi."

Everyone began laughing, the brothers included, after finding out what had happened, all of them returning to their previous task of getting food. Off in the distance, Sabo could hear Haruta cursing softly to himself, and few Commanders pouting as well, no doubt having tried to get the bet of making Thatch forget his poles up and running again. After all, it had gone on a pretty long while the last time they did it, but then Marco began to catch onto them and they had to end the bet prematurely.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all smiled to themselves as they made their way to their normal seats. Thatch, who had quickly returned his fishing poles to their proper place, was rushing back into the galley, running into the kitchen and returning with food that he quickly served the brothers and Whitebeard with a smile.

The trio watched everything with a fondness in their eyes, all of them thinking the exact same thing. Even though it had been slow going, even though they hadn't trusted these pirates at all for a long while, they knew things were changing. Change could be scary, and it had been, it still was, but they were determined to see this change through to the end, and so far their expectations had been exceeded greatly.

They had thought that they would have a much more difficult time here with the Whitebeard Pirates, but they were constantly being proved wrong. With the way things were going now, the brothers would be comfortable with this crew in no time.

They thought it would be tough for them on this crew, but if this was how every day on the Moby Dick would be, then they would get by just fine.


	62. The News Is Out

"Look at this!" Luffy said to his brothers. Sabo was sitting on the railing beside Luffy while Ace was leaning against the railing, deciding not to pretend to be sleeping today.

The two looked over to Luffy, curious as to what he could be doing. They had finished breakfast, as well as their chores, so they were just killing time until lunch or something else entertaining happened.

"Look at what?" Ace asked after Luffy didn't do anything.

"This!" Luffy said, nodding his head towards his hands. He was interlocking his fingers, but Ace and Sabo couldn't quite figure out what that was supposed to mean. Sabo was about to question it when, with his tongue peeking out in concentration, Luffy stretched his fingers out, making an almost net-like structure with his rubber body.

"That's pretty cool," Sabo said honestly, watching Luffy stretch his fingers out wide before returning them back to their usual size.

"Do you think he could catch fish with that?" Ace joked, Luffy looking as if he was seriously contemplating trying that.

"Honestly, he probably could, but let's not attempt that right now please, I'd rather not have to jump in and save you if you fell in," Sabo said with a sigh, knowing that, with their luck, that's exactly what would happen. Luffy pouted but didn't try it, instead sitting in silence once more with his brothers.

Time passed and the brothers continued having a quiet conversation amongst themselves, Luffy trying new ways to stretch his body while Ace let his fire dance in the palm of his hand. After so long with the two not being able to use their fruit powers, it felt amazing to let go, to use their abilities in the open. In the middle of doing this Ace, who was still leaning against the railing and looking at the ocean, squinted slightly, looking off in the distance.

"Are we getting close to an island?" Ace asked out loud, knowing it was a stupid question to ask. After all, he could see the island right there, so of course, they were getting close, but he knew that Sabo and Luffy couldn't see it, and he knew that the Whitebeards probably couldn't even see it through their telescopes yet, so really, it was a reasonable question to ask.

"Yeah, why?" Izo asked, coming to stand beside Ace. The Commander hadn't been all that far away from the brothers, so when Ace asked the question, he had been close enough to hear it.

"I'm pretty sure that's what I'm seeing over there." Ace said, nodding his head to the island off in the distance.

"Oh, really?! What's it look like? Is it big?! Come on Ace, tell me!" Luffy chirped happily, always wanting the details of the islands that they were getting close to.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry Lu, I'll tell you." Ace said before launching into a detailed description of the island that they were approaching. Izo listened curiously because it was fascinating to him that someone could be given such an incredible gift such as Aces. It seemed like something that could only happen thanks to a devil fruit, but here he was, living proof that something impossible like this could be real.

Of course, it hadn't happened miraculously, it hadn't happened without sacrifice, and that was something Izo had to remind himself of. Even though the brothers all had amazing gifts, they had been given them forcefully, and painfully.

A caw above them cued them in on the fact that the news coo had arrived, and Izo waved his hand in the air, buying himself a copy of the newspaper. A few of his ship brothers did the same, all of them buying their own copy as well.

Normally Izo would flip through the news, taking everything that was printed with a grain of salt, because the marines were known for controlling the media to turn everything into something that made them look righteous, and make their opposers look dastardly. Of course, there was always the off chance that there was something good in the paper, like updated bounties or reports of new rookies, and that seemed to be the case for today's news as well, because right on the front page, in bold lettering that caught his attention, was something that interested him.

"Oh?" Izo asked, more to himself, as he skimmed through the article. Both his anger and his amazement at the Marines audacity made Izo scoff unpleasantly as he finished reading the article, only just noticing that Sabo was giving him a curious look.

"Something the matter?" Sabo asked, catching Luffy and Aces attention as well, Ace stopping in his description of the island as he turned to look at the Commander.

"Interesting is more like it, yoi," Marco spoke up as he handed his own newspaper to Whitebeard who read the article with a raised eyebrow. Ace frowned at that, also becoming curious.

"What is it?" The eldest asked, wishing he had a paper of his own to read.

"See for yourself," Izo said, handing over his paper to Sabo who only needed to glance at the front page to see what they were talking about.

**_Trio From Hell?_ **

_A report from the Marines Headquarters in Marineford has just informed us that there are three new villains out there that we should all be worried about. About a month ago now, there was a breakout on the usually peaceful island of Trinatary. Reports indicate that there was a mental hospital for delinquent and violent children as well as children with mental disorders on the island which was subsequently destroyed when three teenagers from the facility broke out, freeing all of the children that were being held inside._

_The three that destroyed the facility reportedly went into a fit of rage, attacking those who were attempting to feed them, and they ran out, attacking and defeating every guard that stood in their path, while also freeing all the other children as well._

_You may have become aware of the Marines hunt for children with numbers tattooed on their wrists, and you would be correct in assuming those very children are the ones that have escaped. If you see a child with a number on their wrist it is advised that you keep your distance and call any nearby marines so they can detain them safely. All of these children are suspected to be highly dangerous, so do not attempt to make contact with them if you see them._

_The three that caused all of this have the numbers 11062, 11085, and 11097. It is reported that 11062 has the ability to control fire, and 11097 has a rubber body, both due to devil fruits that they possess. These three are the most dangerous, and if seen, it is expected that you contact the marines immediately._

_The Marines thank you all for your cooperation as they try their best to resolve this manner and get the children the help they desperately need. If anyone has any information on where these children could be, especially the trio that caused this, there is a reward out. Marines will be doing sweeps on all of the blue seas islands in hopes of finding and returning as many children as they can, and hope to stretch their searches into the grand line and hopefully into the New World as well._

_We hope justice will prevail and no one gets hurt by these dangerous children._

Beside the words, there were pictures of the destroyed facility, but none of the pictures went further than the first floor, of course, because that's where everyone would have seen the cells and labs.

"Of course that's the story those damn marines would come up with." Ace said, glaring at the words on the page. He and Luffy were reading over Sabo's shoulder, all three of them amazed at how the marines had managed to spin the story into something that made the brothers look bad and made the marines look like godsends, regardless of the fact that it was almost completely the other way around.

"Looks like we'll have to be even more cautious on islands now too, now that everyone knows our numbers and some of our powers," Sabo said with a sigh, looking up and towards where he knew the island was getting closer.

"Can't believe it took them over a month to come up with this though." Ace muttered, not even looking at the paper anymore.

"They probably thought they could get us all back before anyone got too suspicious of their searches," Sabo said, flipping through the paper a bit more before some pages fell out, the blonde quickly grabbing them before they could fall to the water.

"What are those?" Luffy asked curiously, peering over Sabo's shoulder in an attempt to see them better.

"Bounties." Ace said simply, recognizing the paper for what it was. There were three pages, each with one of the brothers' numbers on it, but there was no picture with them, just their number, the words; Wanted: Alive Only, and their bounties, which were each 100,000,000. There was a whistle as Jiru came up, also holding a stack of similar posters.

"That's some starting bounty!" He said, a few other Commanders that were out nodding their agreement.

"Yeah, it looks like they really want you guys back, it's not every day you see a starting bounty that high. They even put your status as 'Alive Only.'" Haruta noted. None of the other children that had been at the facility had posters, but the brothers chalked that up to both the fact that there were so many of them, as well as the fact that the rest of the children didn't have the same information about the facility like the brothers did.

"It was to be expected," Sabo said honestly with a sigh, handing both the posters and the newspaper back to Izo who returned to reading the rest of the paper. There were whispers amongst the rest of the crew that didn't know the brothers entire past, some of them wondering if what the marines wrote about the brothers was true, but once Whitebeard and Marco heard these doubts they had all the Commanders inform their divisions that what the papers wrote was false and that there was no need to worry about the brothers turning into vicious monsters.

It was a bit disheartening to them that, after all this time of trying to get comfortable here, the marines were still doing their best to keep the brothers from having any semblance of a normal life. They would never be able to walk around islands without the fear of someone seeing their number always looming over their heads. People would always see them as 'The Trio From Hell' that defeated numerous armed guards and were a threat to humanity as they knew it.

It made the brothers mad, that was for sure, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They had been dealt their hand, and now they just had to be careful how they played their cards.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The island that Ace had seen around a half hour ago was now close enough to the Pirates that they were getting ready to disembark. Ace had gone to get their wristbands while Sabo and Luffy stood nearby Marco as they waited. They would be going with the first Commander to the island like usual, and now that everyone on the planet knew about them, they were a bit tenser than they usually would be, fear that someone would see their numbers feeding into their anxieties.

"Here." Aces simple word caught their attention as the eldest tossed Sabo and Luffy their wristbands, his own already around his wrist, perfectly covering the dreaded number. Sabo thanked him, slipping his own on, double-checking that it covered his number, before triple checking that Luffys was covering his number as well.

Whitebeards booming voice was heard soon after that, the Captain giving instructions to some of the divisions on things they needed to go get while telling others that they were free to explore and enjoy themselves. When he was finished, the brothers and Marco were about to leave when Thatch ran up to them.

"Hey, guys!" Thatch said happily, smiling as he made his way over to them.

"Hi Thatch!" Luffy chirped back happily, waving to the chef.

"Hello, there Thatch, what's up?" Sabo asked, wondering what the man wanted.

"Oh, well I was wondering if I could come with you guys! The restocking that I normally do was passed on to a different group in my division so I'm free to roam around, and I thought it'd be more fun to hang out with you guys, even if you do have old man grumpy pants with you." Thatch said, teasing the first division Commander, which quickly earned him a glare. The brothers smiled, Ace and Luffy laughing at the comment, while Sabo nodded.

"Sure, we're just going to look around though," Sabo said, knowing that most didn't find that all that exciting. As much as the brothers wanted to go charging into an adventure, they also knew that they couldn't risk that, not when news about them was just released that morning.

"Sounds good to me!" Thatch said happily, leading the way off the ship, Marco rolling his eyes and muttering about annoying chefs. This only made the brothers smile more as they followed the man.

Thatch was someone that, for a while now, they knew they could trust. He had done so much to help them, including helping them escape, so it was no surprise to them that they felt so comfortable around the man.

Luffy watched the happy chef walk in front of them, talking to them about his previous experiences on this island, and Luffy could feel all the same happy emotions that Thatch always exuded. Not once had Luffy ever felt the man get mad towards them, not once had he felt any malicious feelings in the chef, every time Luffy saw him he was always smiling, cheerful.

Thatch had been one of the first people he'd seen after escaping the facility. Thatch was the one to calm Luffy down, the first one to make and keep a promise. Thatch made sure they were safe on Sabaody, and he also made them all amazing food. Trusting him was almost as easy as eating to Luffy, so as they continued walking down the path towards the town, Luffy had no problem in following close behind Thatch, listening to his every word.

Ace and Sabo felt the same way as they walked beside Luffy, not even bothering to keep tabs on the chef anymore as they walked. Marco and Thatch were both people that the brothers knew wouldn't try to hurt them. They had proven time and time again that they would instead help the brothers rather than let them get hurt or caught.

The walk through the town was pleasant, and despite the fact that only a half-hour ago the brothers found out that the whole world was now looking for them, they were relatively at peace. They knew they could handle their own, it was just an added bonus that they were now with Thatch and Marco who they knew was much stronger than them.

That didn't mean they were any less cautious than they normally were though. If anything, thanks to the newspaper, they were more cautious.

Window shopping was done calmly like they did on every island, and they even went into a few stores when Thatch would see something interesting. At one point they passed by a weapons shop and Thatch ushered them in, mentioning something about a crew members birthday coming up as he disappeared behind shelves in search of whatever it was he was looking for.

"Ooooh, Ace, Sabo, look at that!" Luffy said enthusiastically, grabbing his brothers' hands and pulling them over to a display of swords. Marco strolled lazily behind them, looking at the sword that Luffy was pointing at.

"It's all shiny! And its got jewels on it too!" Luffy said in amazement, looking at the particularly sparkly sword. The boy was right, the sword was covered in shiny jewels along its hilt, looking like it would be uncomfortable to even hold. Ace raised an eyebrow at the weapon.

"Who would want a sword like that?" Ace asked, Sabo and Marco, finding themselves agreeing with the fire user.

"Because it looks cool! Too bad I don't know how to use a sword though." Luffy said a bit bummed that he wouldn't have a reason to use the sword. Sabo chuckled, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"I think its a good thing for everyone that you don't know how to. I'm sure you would manage to get into a lot more trouble if you did." Sabo said, he and Ace shuddering at the thought of Luffy with a sword. Luffy pouted for only a second more before moving on to another even more interesting looking mace, dragging the group with them.

Thatch had finally found whatever it was he was looking for, paying for it and rejoining the group as Luffy examined a bo staff with intricate carvings etched into it. Ace stood beside him, looking at a set of daggers, and Sabo was a bit away, looking at halberds that were lined up on the wall. Marco stood with Luffy, noticing that the kid had a tendency to take off without a word and decided it was best if he just stayed close to him.

"Alright, I've got it!" Thatch announced, holding up a bag with something in it. The brothers nodded, moving to join Thatch as they left the store, but as they were, Sabo's eye caught something sitting in the corner.

"Hold on," Sabo said, already heading towards the weapon that caught his eye. Ace and Luffy watched curiously, following the blonde, while Thatch and Marco decided to wait by the door. When the brothers saw what had caught Sabo's eye they grinned.

"Are you gonna get it?" Ace asked, examining the shiny steel. Sabo tilted his head as he thought.

"I think so. After all, I don't have you and Luffy's monster powers." Sabo teased, knowing that, of the three, Sabo had been given significantly less deadly abilities compared to his brothers. Luffy snickered while Ace grinned. Sabo grabbed the weapon and went to the counter to pay for it, his brothers once again following as they chatted amongst themselves. Once purchased, Sabo returned to Marco and Thatch, smiling.

"A pipe, yoi?" Marco asked curiously, looking at the weapon that was strapped on Sabo's back thanks to another purchase the blonde had made.

"Yup. We used to fight with them when we were younger. Its been a while but after a bit of practice I'm pretty sure I'll be able to fight with it again." Sabo said, taking the weapon off his back and tossing it between hands, adjusting to its weight. He hadn't held a pipe in a long time, and to be holding one now was admittedly a bit nostalgic.

"That's cool, I don't think I've ever seen someone fight with a pipe before." Thatch said with a smile as the group left the store.

"Maybe we can spar later!" Luffy chirped happily, remembering their old sparring tradition of 100 fights a day.

"That would be fun." Ace agreed, Sabo also nodding his agreement as the group continued heading back to the Moby. As they walked, a small conversation was made, until they were finally back to the ship and they headed their separate ways, Thatch to his room, Marco to Whitebeard, and the brothers back to their room as well.

Even though the whole world was after them, they had a feeling everything would be just fine as long as they were with the Whitebeards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Now the world knows of the brothers and the other escaped children! The cover story is that the facility was actually meant to help the children, which was expected, and seeing as the escaped kids know the truth, that means the marines want them back bad. It would look bad if tens of children came out and told everyone about what had really happened in the facility. Seeing as Ace, Sabo and Luffy had been there for multiple consecutive years, they've seen a lot and have the most information on the facility, which makes the Marines especially scared of them, hence their high bounty.
> 
> I was a bit indecisive about how high I should make the bounty, because 100 million is a lot for a first time bounty. After thinking about it though, Robin was given a bounty of almost 80 million just because she could read poneglyphs. Its not that big of a stretch to think that, if facilities were canon to One Piece, escaping from one would make you a high priority for the Marines to get back, hence the 100 million.
> 
> Also, it was mentioned in the news, but not in detail. The other escaped children do have bounties too, not just the brothers, however, as mentioned, there were so many of them that they all have one big collective bounty. Any number child that is found and returned to the Marines will result in the person getting a monetary reward, though its not going to be as large as 100 million.


	63. A Nice Peaceful Day

The brothers did end up sparring before the day was over. It was only a few rounds, nothing like how they used to, but it was enough for them to brush up on their skills. Sabo was a bit rusty with the pipe at first, which was to be expected, but within a few rounds he was just as good, if not better, then he used to be way back when.

"Ah! Damn it, that pipe of yours hurts!" Ace whined as he rubbed his head, a scowl on his face.

"Sorry, you big baby. If I'd have known you'd cry so much, I would have stuck to fighting Luffy." Sabo said with an eye roll, ducking underneath one of Luffys kicks and immediately swinging his pipe into Luffys back, knocking the youngest onto the ground.

"That's another win for me, Lu." Sabo noted before Ace could say anything.

"Aw! Again!" Luffy pouted as he shot back up to his feet, ready to go. Deciding to indulge him, Sabo crouched again with a smile, Luffy cheering as he saw this.

"I am not a baby..." Ace muttered quietly to himself, knowing that Sabo and Luffy were too caught up in their spar to pay him anymore attention. Huffing, Ace crossed his arms and rested against a tree, watching his brothers.

Luffy was as quick and nimble as ever, ducking under Sabo's pipe and flipping through the air without problem. The blonde, however, was still stronger and smarter than Luffy, and when his brother was still flipping through the air, he hooked his pipe on to Luffys side, flinging him back to the ground and ending another match in record time.

"Again!" Luffy cried.

Both Ace and Sabo smiled at the word.

When the brothers finally finished sparring amongst each other, Sabo and Ace fighting a few more times before ending with one big free for all, it was nearly dark. The brothers lounged around for the rest of the evening before heading to the Moby and going to bed. Sure, the newspaper about them was a bit annoying and infuriating, but it was nothing they weren't used to by now. Their lives were always being controlled by others from the day they were born, so why would it be any different now?

As the sun started rising and breakfast started being made the next day, the brothers found themselves waking up feeling much more optimistic then they had been in a long time.

Sure, they had been given a pretty shitty life so far, but it was up to them to make their lives better from here on out. They weren't going to let anyone control them any longer.

"Breakfast," Sabo said with a yawn and a stretch as he forced himself out of the bed, Ace and Luffy following without complaint, the two of them also stretching. After getting their tattoos, Ace hadn't been wearing a shirt, and today was no different. Luffy was wearing a vest that he left open to show off the tattoo, and Sabo had been wearing more sleeveless shirts as well.

He knew that, once his tattoo was healed up enough, he would start wearing long sleeves again. It was what he was used to, what he was comfortable with. Besides, he wasn't a big fan of showing all the scars on his arms, only reminding him of everything that had happened.

"Mm, do you think Thatch made muffins again?" Luffy asked, lazily sniffing the air for any hint of the smell.

"Dunno let's go find out." Ace muttered back, yawning again as they double-checked to make sure they were awake enough to leave the room, not wanting their senses to get overwhelmed. When they deemed themselves awake, they left the room, Luffy beginning to chatter about all the food he could smell, one of those being the muffins.

"I really like the chocolate chip ones! Oh, but there's also the blueberry ones, those are pretty good too!" Luffy said cheerfully, in a good mood this morning.

"What about the banana nut ones?" Sabo asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"Oh! Those ones too!" Luffy said as he looked over to Sabo with a smile.

"Or the cranberry nut muffins," Ace added, which made Luffy swivel his head to look at him now, still smiling.

"Yeah! They're all so good!" Luffy said, drool starting to pile up. Ace and Sabo laughed at the sight as they walked into the galley. All the smells hit the two older brothers at once and made their own mouths begin to drool, the thought and smell of food making their stomachs growl.

"Good morning you two." Izo greeted as they sat at the usual table. Sabo and Luffy smiled back while Ace opted to nod in Izo's direction, keeping his normal glare off of his face for the time being.

"Good morning Izo, how are you this morning?" Sabo asked as a few more people filtered into the room, all looking groggy and hungry.

"I'm doing well thanks for asking. I'm assuming you three are heading to the island again today?" Izo said with a smile, nodding his head to their wrists which were wearing the band that he had made for them.

"We are. We were planning on leaving after we finished up with our chores for the day." Sabo said, noticing Thatch coming out of the kitchen with their food. Most of the Commanders were still absent, even the Captain himself, but that wasn't unusual. The brothers had shown up a bit earlier than usual.

"Do you mind if I join? I haven't been out yet, I was planning to later." Izo said, turning to his own meal that he had in front of him as Luffy and Ace started digging in.

"Yeah, you can come!" Luffy said happily, smiling widely to the man. He had been meaning to hang out with the crossdresser, wanting to know if he was someone that they could trust like Whitebeard, Marco and Thatch. Ace and Sabo looked to Luffy before shrugging, assuming their brother knew what he was doing. Izo looked mildly surprised before he smiled as well.

"In that case, I can't wait. I'll see you three then." He said, finishing up his food which had nearly been finished when the brothers got there. They said their goodbyes and the brothers continued to eat in peace. The rest of the Commanders and Whitebeard slowly made their way in the galley during their meal. They had a bit of conversation with them, Marco saying he would join them again today while Thatch lamented over the fact that he wouldn't be able to.

The morning passed quickly as the brothers finished their food and went on to their chores, finishing them within record time.

"Can we go to the island now?" Luffy asked excitedly, bouncing in place as he looked up at Sabo.

"We can, first we have to go get Izo and Marco," Sabo said, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"Yay! Izo, Marco, come on!" Luffy shouted, some of the crew turning to look at the youngest with smiles, amused by the boys' excitement. Ace and Sabo shook their heads but followed Luffy who used his nose to find the two Commanders, finding them on the upper deck talking to each other.

"Izo, Marco, we're ready to go to the island now!" Luffy said, earning smiles from the Commanders as they nodded.

"Then we should get going then, huh?" Izo asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Luffy cheered, leading the way off the boat.

"He seems to be in a good mood today, yoi," Marco noted as they all followed Luffy off the Moby.

"He is. I guess he slept well last night." Sabo said with a shrug, not quite sure what was influencing Luffys good mood. Come to think of it though, all three brothers seemed to be in a better mood than usual. Sabo wasn't going to question it too much though, because it had been a while since the trio had been able to actually enjoy a day. It would be a nice, welcomed, change.

"If we don't hurry Luffy's gonna cause some sort of trouble." Ace said from experience as he watched the straw hat bobbing its way into a crowd of people that was formed in the streets of the town. Sabo sighed, but still wore a smile as they all picked up the pace to catch up to the youngest. It only took a few seconds for them to catch up, but when they did they saw that Luffy had stopped and was watching something with a small frown on his face.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, looking over to where Luffy was looking. He hadn't even had a chance to fully turn his head before Luffy was walking off towards whatever it was.

"Luffy, wait!" Sabo called as he reached out, trying to grab his brother's shoulder, but missing by only a few inches. Sabo had noticed Luffy's look, and it was slowly forming into more and more of a scowl, one he knew his brother only wore when he was going to fight someone he didn't like.

"What's going on?" Izo asked, looking around as they caught up to the brothers, having gotten stuck in the crowd that surrounded them.

"Luffy's just being Luffy," Sabo said with a sigh and a shake of his head as he and Ace pushed their way through the crowd and after their brother. None of them were fond of crowds, and if it weren't for the fact that they were more focused on Luffy, they probably would be more on edge right now. As it was, they were easily pushing through, and soon they broke out of it and stood in front of everyone, seeing what was happening. Marco and Izo pushed through as well, also stopping to watch.

A woman was sitting on her knees, picking fallen flowers up off the ground. In front of her were three burly men who all wore scowls, but their attention wasn't on the woman, it was on Luffy who looked up at them with a glare.

"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do about it you tiny brat?" The man closest to Luffy asked. Sabo and Ace both frowned as they realized there was a threat now, but didn't do anything more than watch Luffy carefully. If they tried anything, they would jump in, for now however, they would just watch.

Izo and Marco seemed wary, both glancing at Ace and Sabo as if wondering if they were going to do anything. When neither brother moved, the two Commanders decided they would wait as well, turning and watching Luffy carefully.

"H-hey, isn't that Whitebeards mark?" One of the guys asked, pointing to Luffy's chest where the mark sat proudly. The man closest to Luffy scoffed.

"Yeah right, why would a brat like him be on Whitebeards crew?"

"I don't know man, I don't think we should mess with him..."

"Well, it's a good thing no one asked you. The brat wants a fight, he'll get one." The one who seemed to be the leader said, raising his fist in preparation. Marco and Izo tensed, and Sabo noticed that Izo's hand moved towards his gun and Marcos's arms were glowing a faint blue, practically itching to transform into the bright blue flames Sabo remembered seeing.

It made Sabo happy that the two were ready to help their brother, but the blonde could see that Luffy would have no issue with the men. Two of them were already terrified just from the Whitebeard mark and the one who actually wanted to fight looked like he would only be a little bit of a challenge for him. He didn't look like he had any weapons on him, but it was best to be cautious.

The fist swung forward in an attempt to hit Luffy, but in a flash, Luffy had disappeared. Everyone besides Ace and Sabo watched in confusion, all wondering where he had gone, but in an instant, he reappeared behind the leader, his own fist pulled behind him.

"Gum Gum Jet Pistol!" Luffy announced, the leader turning to look at Luffy just in time for the fist to hit him square in the face, sending him crashing into the ground below, unconscious. The other two only watched with wide eyes before turning and running.

Sabo sighed but smiled as he shook his head, walking over to the woman who had managed to gather the rest of the flowers off the ground before the fight started. Not that it was much of a fight to begin with.

"Are you alright ma'am?" Sabo asked, Marco and Izo walking over as well, while Ace went over to Luffy.

"Man Lu, you sure did a number on him." Ace said with a whistle, leaning in to get a better look at the fist imprint on the man's cheek.

"He was being mean. I don't like mean people." Luffy muttered, looking at the man with a frown for a minute before turning to the woman and smiling.

"Ne, lady, you ok?" Luffy asked, leaving Ace to wonder about his brothers' sudden mood swings. Realizing he would never understand Luffy, Ace shrugged, walking up to the woman with Luffy while the crowd around them started to disperse.

"Oh, uh, yes, thank you!" She said, standing quickly and dusting off her dress, swiping a strand of hair out of her face.

"So what was all that about?" Ace asked, everyone wondering the same thing.

"Some guys were being mean so I stopped 'em," Luffy answered easily, though it did nothing to inform the group. The woman gave a smile at the words before explaining further.

"I was on my way back to my shop when those three came. They wanted my money, but the thing is, I don't exactly have much in the first place which only made them mad." She said with a sigh, readjusting the flowers that she held in her arm.

"And then I beat 'em up." Luffy repeated simply, crossing his arms and wearing a proud smile. The woman laughed while the others shook their heads.

"You did. Thank you again for that. Though, I have to ask, when did the Whitebeard pirates get here? Normally those thugs steer clear whenever you come to town." The woman said, raising an eyebrow as she glanced over to the fallen thug.

"We got here yesterday." Izo supplied before Luffy could give any more vague answers.

"Strange, I would have thought they would have noticed." She said with a thoughtful look, but shrugged, smiling again.

"Oh well. Would you all like to come back to my shop with me? I can't offer much, but we do have some pretty good candy in stock!" The woman said. Luffy's smile lit up at the mention of sweets.

"Yeah! Can we go? Please~?" Luffy pleaded to the others who watched with amused expressions.

"Alright Luffy, but only a few pieces, you can get hyper if you eat too much," Sabo said, to which Luffy agreed to easily, cheering.

"Well, in that case, let's get going! It's not terribly far away, only a couple of minutes." The woman said as she turned and began walking off, the group following.

"Oh, excuse my poor manners, my names Winnie." Winnie said as they walked, introducing herself.

"I'm Sabo, and this is my brother Ace and our younger brother Luffy," Sabo said, pointing to each of them as he did.

"I'm Marco, yoi."

"And I'm Izo." The Commanders said, Winnie nodding.

"It's still a bit surprising to me to be walking with the infamous Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates," Winnie admitted, everyone smiling at her words.

"Honestly, we weren't expecting today's events to happen either," Izo admitted, looking over to Luffy who showed no sign of the scowl he wore previously, only a happy go lucky look on his face now.

"When Luffy's involved, nothing ever goes how you expect it too." Ace said, Luffy smiling again as if it was something to be proud of.

"We'll have to keep that in mind," Marco said with a smile of his own.

"I'm guessing you three haven't been apart of the crew too long, right? At least, I haven't seen anything about you three." Winnie said, unknowingly having read about them in the newspaper yesterday. After all, everyone had read about the _'Trio From Hell'_ and many were, understandably, scared of the mysterious children.

"You're right, we joined about a month ago now," Sabo said.

"Oh? I have to say, it is surprising that you three are so young." Winnie said in response, though there was nothing in her voice that was condescending, only genuine curiosity as to how three young teenagers had managed to join the strongest crew in the world.

"Honestly, we're a bit surprised as well," Sabo said, because never in his wildest dreams had he thought this was how his life would turn out. Luffy and Ace seemed to share the same thoughts as him as they both nodded their agreement. It was quiet after that, but soon enough they were walking up to a shop that had lollipops and caramels sitting in the window.

"Here we are!" Winnie announced, unlocking the door and stepping in, the group following close behind. She walked over to the counter, setting the flowers down.

"I'm gonna go get a vase for these, but please, go ahead and find anything you'd like," Winnie said as she walked off into a back room, leaving the pirates in the entrance.

"Yeah! Candy!" Luffy cheered, rushing off in between shelves to look at the many choices.

"Hold on Luffy, don't break anything!" Ace shouted as he followed. Sabo sighed, but before he could follow, Izo spoke, stopping him.

"I have to say, Luffy is full of surprises." The crossdresser said as he looked around, picking up a few candies that looked interesting and looking at them before putting them back.

"That's an understatement," Sabo mumbled to him as he headed off, wincing as he was sure he heard a crash. Izo and Marco watched him walk off with a smile. It was easy to see that the brothers were much more comfortable around them then they had been when they first got to the ship. It had taken a long time, and there was still a long way to go, but it was nice to know that the brothers weren't forcing themselves to hide so much from them, that they were finally beginning to trust them.

"This is why you have to wait for us Luffy." Sabo's voice could be heard from a shelf over as the two Commanders walked over, seeing Ace and Sabo on the ground, picking up wrapped candies and placing them back on the shelf while Luffy watched sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry!" He apologized, laughing a bit before something caught his eye and he was off again.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted, picking up the candies as fast as they could before they charged off after him again, the commanders trailing behind slowly while laughing.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting! Have you found anything you'd like?" Winnie's voice had everyone's attention, all of them turning to see the woman walking out of the backroom with a vase in hand, moving to the counter and placing the flowers she had in them.

"Yeah! I got all of this!" Luffy said, running up to the counter with his arms full of candy, Ace and Sabo chasing him up to the counter and catching their breath.

"How much?" Sabo asked, standing straighter after catching his breath.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly charge you guys, you did save me after all! Consider it my thank you to you." Winnie said with a smile. Luffy tilted his head, thinking about it for a second.

"Alright, but then we're paying for these ones!" Luffy said, gesturing to most of the candies in his arms.

"What? But-"

"Cause these ones aren't for us, they're presents! So we can pay for them!" Luffy decided, Sabo already pulling the money out and handing it to Winnie who looked a bit flustered.

"No, I couldn't-"

"It's fine, really, like Luffy said, we'll pay for the ones that aren't for us. We don't mind." Sabo said, putting the money on the counter, the three brothers turning to head off with the Commanders.

"W-well... thank you! It was nice meeting you all!" Winnie called after them. Luffy turned to her, walking backward as he waved.

"See you later Winnie!" Luffy called. Once the group had left the store, Luffy turned back to look at the Commanders who were eyeing all the candies they had gotten.

"I thought you said you only wanted to get a few pieces," Izo said with a raised eyebrow.

"For Luffy, yes. However, he wanted to get all of you something too." Sabo said, Luffy nodding as he beamed up at them and handed both Izo and Marco a box of assorted chocolates.

"These ones are yours! And this one's Thatch's, and that one's for Whitebeard, and that one's Jozu's, and that one's Ruta's, and-" Luffy said, pointing to the boxes in his arms as he named off every commander. The two Commanders were a bit surprised by the gifts.

"Thank you, yoi," Marco said eventually once Luffy had finished speaking, smiling to gratefully as he held onto his box. He wasn't usually fond of sweets, but they were nice to have every once in a while.

"Thank you as well, Luffy, that's very thoughtful of you," Izo said, holding his own box close.

"Its a thank you for helping me and Sabo and Ace! Come on, we gotta go give everyone theirs too!" Luffy chirped happily, practically skipping off towards the Moby.

"Are we sure he's not being influenced?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow as he watched the cheerful teen skip off.

"Unless one of us is weirdly happy, I don't think so," Sabo said with a shrug, heading off to follow Luffy who was paying little to no attention to his surroundings, nearly knocking down a display for someone's stall.

The two Commanders laughed at that before following as well, along with Ace. The walk back was silent except for a few reprimands by Sabo as he told Luffy to be more careful, but otherwise, it was a nice, peaceful walk.

When they reached the Moby, Luffy wasted no time in running onboard, and Marco and Izo could already hear him shouting out Commanders' names as he passed out the candy.

"And Whitebeard, this one's yours!" Luffy said as he took a much bigger box compared to the others from Aces hands and held it out for the giant.

"Gurararara~! Thank you, Luffy." Whitebeard said with a warm smile, taking the chocolates and putting them on his armrest. Luffy beamed, enjoying the pulse of warmth that came from the Captain.

The brothers didn't have many good days, but when they did, they were sure to make the best of them.

* * *


	64. The Bad After the Good

It was official. The Universe hates them.

It was either that, or they had extremely shitty luck, but seeing as they got out of the facility, that might not be the case.

While yesterday had been a pretty good day, great even, today was not. The brothers hadn't even slept a whole hour before they were being plagued with nightmares left and right. It seemed every time they closed their eyes, there was a new torture waiting for them. It was almost like they were back in the facility, where they were met with new hells every day.

The brothers hadn't gotten much sleep at all. At most, they might have gotten three hours, but that was debatable. All of their eyelids felt heavy and even breathing was exhausting, but they didn't want to risk falling back asleep. Sleeping meant dreaming, and dreaming meant nightmares.

It was easy for them to figure out that today was going to be one of their 'bad days' as the pirates had dubbed it, and they weren't going to be leaving their room.

Sabo could hear breakfast being made, could hear as the pirates slowly realized that the brothers weren't showing up, and then could hear Thatch heading towards their room. Normally, when the brothers had a bad day, the chef would leave them food outside their door, but that had been before the chef knew how much they ate and could carry it all in his hands.

Now, however, the chef needed to use a rolling cart to transport the many servings that the brothers were known to eat. The sound of it made Sabo flinch as memories assaulted his brain, and he briefly felt as if he was back in the dark, cold cell, huddling closer to Ace for warmth and listening as their breakfast got closer, the same slop as always.

But then he was brought back to reality, a knock on their door telling them their food was there, and then Thatch walking away without a word. The first time this had happened, the chef had stood outside their room for a while and tried to get them to respond, but once he realized it was futile, he gave up and instead only knocked once before leaving.

"I'll get it." Ace muttered quietly, exhaustion thick in his voice as he slid out of the bed and shuffled to the door, each step looking as if he was dragging a ball and chain with him. He opened the door and pulled the cart in, promptly shutting the door behind him and moving the cart to the bed where Sabo was still laying down and Luffy was curled up, eyes closed. Neither of them could tell if he was awake or not, but when the food got close enough, his eyes opened, answering their question.

Breakfast was eaten in silence, all three of them wearing frowns as they slowly picked at their food. The lack of sleep made them feel as if they weren't hungry, but they knew they should eat so they forced themselves to, even though the normally flavorful array of foods tasted dry and bland.

When it was finished, Ace returned the cart to where it had been outside their door, the plates clear of food, and then he returned to bed, laying down and closing his eyes.

For the rest of the morning, the brothers shifted through phases of sleeping, being half-awake, and being too scared to close their eyes again until exhaustion forced them to. It was a tiring cycle that they all wanted to be over, but it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Lunch came and passed, and Sabo could hear the crew getting ready to set sail again, their time on this island up. It was disheartening to Sabo that they didn't even have the energy to go out on the deck and watch the island drift slowly away, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was no way any of them were leaving the room, no matter how much they wanted to.

Being this tired, there was no doubt in Sabo's mind that they were at high risk for falling into panic attacks. Their minds would play tricks on them, and one wrong glance at the wrong person would make the brothers think they had just seen a doctors coat rather than a white t-shirt.

It wasn't something any of them wanted to risk, whether they had the energy to leave the room or not. Sleeping was bad enough, there was no reason to go and make being awake just as bad.

Silence reigned over the room along with a thick tension. The brothers were all very active people, so for them to be confined to their room all day was exhausting in and of itself, which didn't make any of this any easier, but what could they do about it?

Ace was attempting to sleep again, but Sabo could already hear his brother's heart rate and breathing starting to pick up, signaling that he was having a nightmare. Stretching his arm out to his side he hit the eldest on the chest, waking him with a startled gasp. Ace had only been asleep for a half-hour, but as usual, it wasn't a good sleep.

"Freakin' nightmares." Ace growled out angrily as he lay back down, a scowl on his face. Luffy lay silently on Aces other side, staring at the ceiling without any expression. His hands were resting on his chest and his fingers were moving mindlessly. When Ace spoke, his eyes flickered over to look at him, but it was brief and within seconds, he was back to staring at the ceiling.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The Commanders and Captain were all sat in the galley, talking cheerfully amongst themselves. The rest of the crew sat around them, everyone munching happily on all the different breakfast foods Thatch and his division had cooked up that day. Breakfast had only started about ten to fifteen minutes ago, so it was only a bit strange that the infamous three brothers hadn't made their way there yet.

"Has anyone seen Ace, Sabo, and Luffy?" Blenheim asked as he sat at the table, another plate of food with him.

"I haven't. Normally they're here before I am though." Haruta said, glancing to the empty spots where the brothers usually sat.

"Maybe they slept in?" Rakuyo asked, but even that was a bit far fetched. After everything they had learned about the brothers, they knew it was unlikely that they had done that. They had a tendency to get up early and be on time to meals. It was a possibility though seeing as they seemed to be getting more comfortable around them.

"That could be the case, son. Let's just wait and see." Whitebeard said with a comforting smile to the worrying Commanders. All of them had taken a liking to the brothers, so it was no surprise to the Captain that they were all quick to worry when it came to them.

As breakfast dragged on, it quickly became evident that the brothers weren't going to show up.

"Do you think it's one of their bad days?" Jiru asked. No one really knew what the brothers did on days like this, where they holed themselves up in their room and refused to leave, but it had happened a few times now.

"Most likely. If they haven't shown up by the time breakfast is over, then I'd say it's safe to assume so, yoi." Marco said, a slight frown on his face as he looked to the doors, waiting for the trio to show up.

"A bad day? But they had such a good one yesterday!" Thatch said with worry showing on his face. It was true, yesterday had been the happiest the crew had seen the brothers since they had arrived on the Moby. The Commanders and Captain had been particularly happy, as well as shocked when they had come back with candies for all of them, but they had all accepted them graciously, taking it as a sign that they were trying to open up to them more, that they were liking and trusting them more.

"That may have been the case, but we don't even know what causes these bad days. Maybe it had nothing to do with yesterday at all." Izo said with a frown.

"That's true, but then what would be the cause?" Vista asked. It was silent after that, many not knowing any answer that they could possibly give to that.

"We won't know unless we ask, but for now, let's just continue on with our day and hope that the brothers feel better tomorrow," Whitebeard said, knowing there was no changing how the brothers acted. Even though they were opening up to them, there was still a lot of work that needed to be done in terms of getting the brothers comfortable here on the crew.

It seemed the rest of the Commanders understood that as well and breakfast continued in silence. After a while, a small conversation started, but it wasn't as exuberant as it had been previously. Whitebeard sighed, looking over to the doors that Marco had looked towards earlier.

Even though the brothers had told them all about their past, there was still a lot that the pirates didn't know about them.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The rest of the day passed by slowly for the brothers, and soon they were passing out at the end of the day from exhaustion, thankfully having no more nightmares. As the next morning dawned, they woke up, still feeling a bit groggy, but much better than they had yesterday. They got out of bed, Sabo mumbling that breakfast was about to be ready, and woke themselves up enough to leave their small room and head to the galley.

All three of the brothers were still very noticeably tired, but they all resisted the urge to go back to their beds, instead forcing themselves to keep moving down the hall they knew practically by heart now, making their way to the galley.

The three walked in silence, occasionally yawning or stretching, and as they reached the galley doors, they pushed them open, all eyes turning to them. Most everyone smiled when they saw them, and some greeted them, which they replied with greetings of their own, heading to their usual spot at the Commander's table. Once there they received the same reactions, to which they responded in kind.

"Its good to see you three again! It was weird without you." Jozu said genuinely, having noticed all of yesterday that something just felt... _off_ without the brothers.

"Good to see you too. Sorry for any worry we may have caused." Sabo said with a polite smile, a tired look still in his eye as he yawned again, trying to shake away the sleepiness that still desperately clung to him. His mind screamed at him to go get more sleep because Kami knows he didn't get enough yesterday, but he silenced that part of his brain, focusing on those in front of him rather than how tired he still was.

Beside him, Ace and Luffy weren't faring much better than he was. Luffy's head was bobbing, his eyes shutting slowly and opening slower yet, and Ace, whose eyes usually darted around to watch every movement made, was letting his eyes lazily flit around, not quite registering what he was seeing yet.

Yeah, the previous day had definitely taken a lot out of the brothers, more so than usual. Usually, they would be able to put up a front that they were just fine, that they weren't affected what-so-ever by the day before, but today they didn't have the energy to attempt that. Instead, they let the sleepiness show, the sluggishness.

They just had to hope their trust in these pirates wasn't misplaced.

The room filled soon enough, and plates were filled with the various breakfast foods being served. Everyone was in the galley now, and the brothers had been greeted by the rest of the Commanders and Whitebeard once they arrived.

Everyone was eating their food, boisterous conversations being held around them that almost hurt Sabo's ears. The blonde, like his brothers, wasn't completely awake, their minds still sluggishly trying to catch up, and though his hearing wasn't as sensitive as it could be, it was still more sensitive than it normally would be at this point. Because of that, the loud talking and laughter from the pirates were beginning to give him a headache, but he ignored it, knowing that the pirates had no clue that anything was affecting him in the first place.

He had a feeling the same thing was happening to Luffy, the youngests nose scrunching a few times every few minutes, something he usually did when his nose hurt and he didn't want to rub it in front of everyone or draw attention to it. Ace seemed to be fine, but there wasn't any harsh lighting in here that could possibly hurt the eldest's eyes. Sabo had a feeling that if they went outside, it would be a different story.

"You guys ok?" Marcos's voice snapped Sabo out of his thoughts as he turned to look at the first commander, noticing that all the Commanders eyes were on them now, even Whitebeards. Sabo forced a small smile, ignoring the growing headache even more.

"Yeah, just a bit of a rough time waking up properly. Heightened senses are causing issues, you know?" Sabo said, as nonchalantly as he could, as if it wasn't that big a deal. It wasn't, really, it was just annoying more than anything.

"Do you need anything?" Kingdew asked, not quite sure what he could do to help. All of the brothers shook their heads simultaneously.

"We'll be fine by the end of breakfast hopefully. If not we'll go relax for a bit." Sabo said, knowing there wasn't much anyone could do about it. Unless everyone talked in whispers and they removed anything with smell, they would just have to deal with it. They've done it before, they'll do it again.

"If you say so," Haruta said a bit hesitantly, and the brothers could see that he wanted to do something to help.

"Hey, that reminds me, what do you guys do all day on your bad days?" Thatch asked, and though the words sounded blunt and seemed to come from nowhere, the brothers knew that the man was curious about it, Sabo having heard him yesterday, and Luffy feeling the mans emotions.

"Lay down... try to sleep." Ace mumbled with a shrug, moving some food around mindlessly on his plate. It felt weird to talk about their bad days so casually because, for Ace and his brothers, those days were exhausting and sometimes even painful. After all, having to relieve your worst memories and watch your mind come up with horrible, twisted outcomes of those already bad memories was not a fun experience.

"Do you guys normally have trouble sleeping?" Namur asked, genuinely curious and maybe even concerned for them. The brothers were beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable from the topic of these questions but knew it was something they should at least try to explain the pirates.

"Not usually, no, but if we don't get enough sleep we aren't usually in the best of moods and its easier for our minds to play tricks on us, which would be no fun for anyone. It's easier for us to just stay in our room." Sabo answered, avoiding the fact that, 'not getting enough sleep' was actually the brothers having nonstop nightmares. They were trying to be more open, yes, but that wasn't something that any of them were ready to share just yet.

The answer seemed to appease the pirates though because they all relaxed, smiles lighting up their faces.

"I thought you guys did that because we did something. It's a relief to know that wasn't the case." Rakuyo said, the rest of the Commanders nodding. Sabo smiled at them, shaking his heads.

"No need to worry, if it were something you did I'm sure you would know," Sabo said honestly because the brothers wouldn't be able to hide the fact that something they did affected them. It had happened before, like when they heard Harutas name.

With the end of the questions came the end of the conversation. Sabo had been right in thinking that by the time they had finished breakfast they would be just fine, because as the brothers pushed away their cleared plates, their senses had returned to normal, or at least, what was normal for them, and they were leaving the galley with smiles on their faces.

Going to their usual spot on the railing, the three began relaxing, taking in all the things they had missed out on because of their years being trapped in the facility. The cool wind on their faces, the sounds of the birds flying by and the waves hitting the sides of the ship, the feeling of the warm sun beaming on their skin, the smell of the ocean. It was refreshing, freeing even, for the brothers. It was a constant reminder that they were no longer trapped, that they didn't have to wake up every day fearing the next test they would be given. They would no longer be forced to perform tests that caused them pain or other horrible symptoms.

They were free. They could wake up and leave their room if they wanted, or they could snuggle deeper under their blankets and sleep for another few hours. They could go eat a large, delicious breakfast and not worry if they would have to miss out on lunch again. They could sit on the railing and watch the waves and not worry about being dragged away so that they could be pumped full of drugs.

No one was controlling their lives anymore. Nobody but themselves.

Not every day could be a good day, but the brothers weren't going to let that hold them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> This was an important chapter, even if it was pretty short. I've mentioned the trios bad days before, but I never really went into detail as to how those bad days really went for them, so this chapter was an insight as to how they handle themselves on these days. It was also important because it showed the commanders that, even though the trio was happy one day, that could all change at the drop of a hat. Mental health is never predictable, and even if someone has a really good day, that doesn't mean it'll stay that way.


	65. The Terrible After the Bad

The darkness felt suffocating. It was cold, it was dark, and the ground beneath him was hard, giving no sense of comfort. A quick glance around showed the same thing as always; a dark wall over there, a dark wall back there, another dark wall to his right, and of course, the bars that showed nothing but darkness in front of him.

How long had it been since that cell door had been opened? Since he had last been fed? Since he had last seen someone? He didn't know, but the loneliness was almost as suffocating as the darkness.

The sound of footsteps made him stiffen in surprise. He tried getting up and moving to the bars, but his body felt heavy and difficult to move like he had ten-ton weights strapped to his legs. He was forced to sit and wait as the footsteps grew closer and an even darker shadow began to loom outside his cell.

The thing that walked up though, was anything but human. Its face looked as if it could be a person, but the mouth was far too stretched to be normal. The lips were pulled upwards into a sickening smile, sharp, jagged teeth showing, and their eyes looked small and beady in comparison, only adding to the monster like quality of the thing.

It was tall, extremely so. It was hunched over so it didn't hit its head on the ceiling, and it was thin and lanky. Its arms looked abnormally long and its legs didn't look like they could properly support the creature. There was no hair anywhere on the monster and its skin was almost too taut as if there was just barely enough to cover it completely. Its arm stretched out towards the cell bars, showing its long, gangly fingers, and suddenly, the door was being swung open.

The creature didn't even need to enter the room. It merely stretched its arm inside and plucked him up from the ground with ease, pulling him towards its face. The heat and smell of the creature's breath made his stomach churn, and every hair was raised in fear as he stared into the creatures beady red eyes.

They seemed to sit there for an eternity, and with each passing minute, each second, it felt as if he was going to faint from the terror he felt. Finally, the creature moved, its arm moving somewhere he couldn't see, before retracting back and showing him the gleaming needle it held. A soft whimper escaped as the creature raised the needle to his arm. The pinch as the needle was pushed into his skin made him wince, another, slightly louder, whimper falling out as the liquid was injected into him.

And then the needle was pulled out, and he was left to once again stare into the eyes of the terrifying monster as he slowly felt the effects of that liquid rush through his body.

It was excruciating. Every limb, every muscle, every nerve, felt like it was cramping. The cramping quickly began to feel as if it was replaced by fire, and every part of him screamed for relief. When the burning subsided, it was replaced with an itch. An intense, borderline painful, itch that he desperately wanted to soothe, but he was still in the monster's grip, still staring into its eyes.

This continued on, and on, and _on_. A never-ending cycle of pain, from cramping, to burning, to itching, all while staring into the beady eyes, the monsters smile only stretching further on its face. The darkness surrounding them started to cover them now, making it impossible to see the ground. It began to swallow them up, slowly creeping up the legs and hands of the creature, and then its torso and arms, and then its shoulders and neck.

It swallowed it all up until all he saw was the monster's eyes staring into his own, and its smile still stretching unnaturally wide.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The pirates milled along lazily. The weather was nice, the seas were calm, and breakfast was nearly finished. There wasn't much to do this early in the morning. Most did their chores after breakfast or even lunch, and those on watch hadn't seen anything that would be concerning. It was a normal, lazy morning on the Moby Dick.

"Ne, Jozu, do you think something fun'll happen at the next island?" Haruta asked, slumped over the railing as he watched the water move beside their ship. Jozu, who stood beside Haruta, shrugged.

"I don't know, we haven't been to this one in a while. I'm sure there's something there that you'll find exciting." Jozu said. It wasn't often that the Whitebeards went to islands this close to Paradise. Normally, they would take a more direct route right into the New World, but they had decided to hang around the beginning. They were still a couple of days away from the island, but it was already beginning to make the crew excited.

"I hope so. I feel like it's been a while since we've had an adventure." Haruta said, moving out of the slump and standing a bit straighter with a sigh.

"Wouldn't you call the entire ordeal with the brothers an adventure?" Jozu asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Haruta rolled his eyes but smiled as well.

"Of course, but what about a good fight? We haven't had a really good one in a while. Sure, there were those pirates, but even then they weren't much of a challenge." The short, in comparison to Jozu, commander whined.

"Anyways, speaking of the brothers, where are they?" Haruta asked as he scanned the deck curiously for the trio. They were normally up right before breakfast, or even right as breakfast was starting. Jozu, who also scanned the deck, shrugged.

"Don't know. Probably still sleeping. I'm sure they'll show up once breakfasts underway." He said just as the bell to signal meal time rang, everyone beginning to make their way towards the galley. Jozu and Haruta both pushed themselves off of the railing and began making their own way to the galley.

"Wait, Sabo said he could hear everyone right? So he can hear us right now?" Haruta asked, suddenly remembering that fact. It was something that they were all going to have to get used to, no matter how crazy it seemed.

"Presumably, yes. If so, hello Sabo, hope your mornings been well so far." Jozu said politely, making Haruta smile and laugh a little.

"However, he said he doesn't normally listen in on conversations." Jozu continued.

"Unless it was about him or his brothers. Which would mean he _is_ listening." Haruta countered.

"He said he did that because he didn't know us and wanted to make sure we wouldn't send them back to... you know where," Jozu said, not using the word facility on the off chance that the blonde was listening. As the two Commanders spoke they entered the galley, moving to sit down in their usual spots at the commander table, all of the others already there except for Fossa and Blenheim who Jozu remembered said that they were going to check on something in the depths of the Moby.

"And if that's the case, then he would still be listening. Just because they joined doesn't mean they aren't worried we might send them back." Haruta said, knowing that trust was something that was hard to earn, especially when you were raised to be always on guard like the brothers were.

"What are you two talking about?" Izo asked with a raised brow, only hearing snippets of the conversation.

"We're debating whether Sabo's listening in on us right now," Haruta said nonchalantly as if it wasn't that big a deal. Really, it wasn't. Sabo, Ace, and Luffy were their brothers now, whether they reciprocated those feelings or not, so that meant they accepted everything about them, from their past to their strange abilities.

"Why would he be doing that?" Jiru asked making Haruta sigh in exasperation at the fact he would have to explain himself again.

"Well, as I told Jozu, he said he doesn't listen in on everyone's conversations, but if he or his brothers are mentioned he listens. That's why I think he could be listening to us now, but Jozu here thinks that he isn't listening regardless of what we talk about." Haruta explained, the commanders and Whitebeard all nodding and humming in agreement to the words.

"Well, they did join the crew, so there's a chance he stopped listening all the time." Blamenco agreed, holding his chin in thought.

"See! Blamenco agrees with me." Jozu said as he smiled smugly.

"Yeah, but as I said to Jozu, just because they joined doesn't mean they're all buddy-buddy with us. I mean, I get why, but I'm just saying, that could mean that he's still listening. It would also mean he's listening to us right now." Haruta countered. Plates were set down at the end of the table and they turned to see Thatch placing the brothers' breakfast at their empty seats which confused them.

"The brothers haven't come yet?" Kingdew asked with furrowed brows.

"Seems not." Thatch said with a frown, confused.

"Maybe they're still waking up?" Rakuyo questioned.

"Or they're having another bad day?" Namur suggested.

"But they just had a bad day. Can they have one right after another?" Vista asked.

"Who knows son. We'll wait for them like always and if they don't show Thatch will bring them food. If it is another bad day we're just going to have to be supportive. I'm sure those three are still having a hard time adjusting." Whitebeard said, the commanders nodding their agreement to the words. It was always hard to remember that it hadn't been all that long since they'd rescued the brothers, only a little over a month.

"In any case, I still think that Sabo's listening," Haruta said confidently.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Breakfast continued on normally enough after that, and like the commanders predicted, the brothers were a no show which confused more than a few of them. Thatch waited as long as he dared before he knew he was going to have to start prepping for lunch.

"Just bring them their breakfast Thatch," Marco said with a sigh as he stood up from the table, he and Thatch the only ones left, both waiting in hopes that the brothers would show up.

"Alright..." Thatch muttered a bit disappointedly. He wasn't disappointed in the brothers, he understood, really. He knew that they had faced a lot of horrible things in their lives, he knew that even though they were physically healed, there was still a long way to go when it came to their mental health, but he had still hoped that the Whitebeards would have been able to work some type of magic and heal them.

He wasn't disappointed in the brothers. No, he was more disappointed in himself for not taking the brothers' mental health as seriously as their physical. Sure, he didn't play their mental health issues off, he took them seriously, but he still naively believed that after such a short amount of time, they would be fine.

"I'll go with you, yoi," Marco said as he followed Thatch to the kitchen where they began to load food onto the rolling cart. Marco could see the turmoil in his brothers' eyes, knew that the chef was beating himself up over something. He didn't know what, but he trusted that if it was important, or if it became an issue, Thatch would come to talk to him, or Pops, or the nurses, or anyone really.

The walk to the brothers' room was done silently, and the food was left in its usual place beside their door. A quick knock from Thatch on the door was enough to signal to the trio inside that the food was there, and when there was no response the two commanders began to head back towards the deck.

"It just sucks that there are people that can do that to children." Thatch said finally as they neared the door that led out to the deck.

"It does. We just have to keep showing the brothers that we're not those people. They're safe here, and they'll learn that eventually, yoi. We just have to be patient with them." Marco soothed. Thatch nodded in understanding, straightening as his resolve to help the brothers get over their past grew.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, maybe I'll make something extra meaty for dinner! Luffy seems to really like meat-based dishes. Oh, and maybe some of those chicken tenders with the dips for lunch that Ace likes! And chocolate cake for dessert! Sabo really liked that cake we made that one time." Thatch rambled happily with a smile. Marco felt himself begin to smile as well as the two walked out onto the deck.

"Sounds like a good idea Thatch." Marco agreed. Even though the brothers didn't open up about themselves all that much, Thatch was still able to do one thing, and that was figure out what those on the crew enjoyed eating. Some joked that the man had a strange sixth sense when it came to knowing a person's favorite food, but the chef always claimed it was something any good chef should be able to do.

"You think so?" Thatch asked, turning to look at the first mate and commander.

"I do. If the brothers are having another bad day I'm sure that you making their favorite meals will definitely cheer them up, yoi." Marco said, causing Thatch's smile to widen at the thought.

"It's settled then, tenders and dip for lunch, meat for dinner and cake for dessert."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

_"Its time for the next test~!"_ The sing-song, cheery voice sent shivers running down his spine. He urged his legs to move faster than they had been before, but he was already beginning to feel the exhaustion slowing him down. His legs couldn't quite keep the same rhythm as they had been before. He was beginning to trip over himself much easier than before, his feet not coordinating with his brain like he wanted.

No, left right left right! Why did his left foot insist on getting in the right ones way?

Pushing himself up off the ground he broke back into a sprint, turning right at the next fork in the never ending hallway. Behind him, he could hear a cheery tune being whistled, and even though he was running, the person following him was taking slow, even steps, yet they seemed to be gaining on him.

He had to get out. He couldn't stay here any longer. He just needed to keep going, and eventually, he would find the exit. This place couldn't go on forever, right?

 _"All around the mulberry bush,"_ His breath hitched as a familiar tune began to come out of the man's mouth. The tune echoed eerily throughout the halls, making it seem as if the words were being sung right in his ear.

_"The monkey chased the weasel."_

Faster. He had go faster. Faster. Faster. Faster. _Faster!_

A startled yelp escaped his lips as he once again tripped over his own feet, his legs screaming at him, begging him to stop, to rest, but he couldn't do that, not when-

 _"The monkey stopped to pull up his sock,"_ He had to start moving. He had to get out.

How was he supposed to do that though? It was so dark. _Too_ dark. He could barely see his own hands in front of his face, how was he supposed to find the way out of this maze?

It didn't matter, he could do it, he _would_ do it.

Footsteps behind him snapped him back to the predicament he was in. The slow, deliberate steps seemed far too close for comfort, the humming in between lines only chilling him further.

Left. Surely if he went left he would find the way out.

His footsteps echoed around him nearly as loud as the pounding of his heart in his ears. He ran as fast as he could down the hall, noticing yet another fork in the hallway. Left or right? He had to make the decision quick.

 _"Pop! Goes the weasel."_ He jumped back in shock as the man who he knew for sure had been behind him popped out in front of him from the darkness, a grin spreading over his face as he brandished a long, sharp needle in his hand, his other hand stuffed deep into the pocket of his white coat.

"It seems our fun is over for now, but no worries, there's more fun to be had back in the lab." The words echoed loudly around him as the boy began back peddling away from this man- no, monster. No man could be as evil, as sinister, as uncaring of human life as this person. Monster definitely fit the criteria better.

Turning to run back the way he came he was surprised when the monster was there as well, long needle in hand and smile still plastered to his face.

"Now now, the chase is over. You've lost." He didn't have another chance to run before the hand in the monsters pocket shot out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him towards the monster as it shoved its needle into his arm.

"There. Let test #462974 commence." What was once a loud, sharp and clear voice became warbled and muffled as he felt the world tilt sideways. The grip on his wrist never let up, and instead, the monster began to quite literally drag him down the hall. He had tried to keep up, tried to move his legs in time with the monsters, but with the world shifting so uneasily beneath him, it became futile and he fell to the floor, allowing the monster to drag him back into captivity.

He hated this. He was almost out, he just knew it, and yet here he was again, being dragged back into the depths of what could only be hell. A place like this couldn't exist anywhere other than hell after all.

What seemed to have taken him hours of running took the monster only a few minutes of walking, and they were soon walking into a painfully bright white room.

Yes. _Hell._ That's what this was.

They always say that hell is a red fiery inferno filled with suffering and pain. They say its got cavernous pits and devils with pitchforks. They say it's deep down underground where no one can get to it and no one can get out of it.

Honestly, this wasn't far off from the imagined hell. He knew though. Hell wasn't red, it was painfully white. Yes, there was pain and suffering, but it wasn't given to those who deserved it. Those cavernous pits might not exist here, but there were never ending halls of darkness that did the job just as well. Devils with pitchforks? What about twisted doctors with scalpels? And it sure did seem that there was no getting out of this place.

So yes, this was hell. There was no other place that it could be.

"Why the long face? Give us a smile, after all, I'm sure you're brothers would just love to see it." The fog suddenly cleared and he found himself sitting in an all too familiar straight back wooden chair, looking at the two metal tables in front of him with two small bodies lying on them.

Dread filled him as he opened his mouth to speak, to scream, to do anything, but nothing came out. Not a word, not a scream, not even a whimper. It was dreadfully silent as the footsteps of the monster clicked on the white tile floor as it made its way to the bodies.

Bodies. Bodies of his brothers. The only thing he knew was keeping him sane in this horrible place.

"No, no, a smile. Like this!" And something was shining in the monster's hands, something that he moved to his brothers head. His mouth opened, it closed, it opened, and yet still, nothing came out. He tried, tried so hard to scream, to shout, to fight against the restraints, but nothing worked.

"See? Now, why don't you follow your brothers' example?" The monster lifted his brother up from the table, showing off the large grisly smile he had carved into his brothers face. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched the blood pour from the cuts, pooling onto his brother's chest and falling to the table.

"No? Hm, maybe something else will get you smiling then." The monster unceremoniously let go of his brother, the body thumping back down loudly onto the metal table making him flinch. His brother wasn't moving, it was painfully obvious, and he hadn't made a sound. Surely he would have made some sort of noise while the monster had cut into him, but there hadn't been anything.

"What about this? Would this make you smile?" The monster's voice was still much too cheery for the events taking place in front of him, but he forced himself to look to where the monster was, now at his other brothers' side. He was holding him up much like he had the other and was showing off the carvings he had placed all over.

Smiley faces. There were dozens, hundreds even, of various sizes of smiley faces littering his little brother's body. The blood poured out of the boy's body and it looked as if he had bathed in it.

He truly wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything, but he was stuck. Forced to watch as the monster let his brother go in the same way he had before, walking away from the body and right up to him.

He couldn't do anything. He couldn't stop the monster, he couldn't get out, and he couldn't save his brothers.

"What will it take to get you smiling?"

Surely, this was worse than any hell anyone could ever imagine.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

It was a few hours after breakfast had passed. Thatch and the rest of the chefs were cooking up a storm in the kitchen while the rest of the crew went about their daily tasks. Division commanders went around and made sure things within their division were running smoothly while the rest of the crew did chores and switched shifts for watch.

"Remind me to write up a report about the extra wood we need," Blenheim said to Curiel as he walked by. Curiel watched him pass with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought we just got some more wood," Curiel said, making Blenheim stop to address the commander fully.

"We did, but it looks like some of the boards down below need replacing soon, which means we'll need to stop somewhere soon to make the necessary repairs. It also means we'll be low on extra Adams wood." Blenheim said as he leaned against the rail next to Curiel.

"Ah, that makes sense. We did hit those rough waters a few months ago. Adams wood sure is tough, but even it begins to wear down after a while." Curiel said knowingly, thinking back to the last time they had had to replace boards. It was definitely a long time for them to last and he was sure that with the replacement of the old boards, they would be able to sail without much incident for a while.

"Hey you two, have you seen Marco?" Izo's voice brought the two out of their conversation. Looking over they saw the geisha man walking up to them, a slight frown on his face as he did.

"Sorry Izo, last I saw him was when he and Thatch left to bring the trio their breakfast," Curiel said with a shrug.

"I think I saw him near the infirmary when I was coming back u- oh, there he is," Blenheim said, looking past Izo to where the first commander was walking from below deck and heading across the deck towards the Commanders rooms.

"Thank you. Hey, Marco!" Curiel and Blenheim watched Izo as he left them, moving swiftly through the crowded deck and toward their brother.

"What do you think Izo wants with Marco?" Curiel asked in a hushed tone, lest the man hear him.

"Who knows, but he didn't look all that happy. If I had to guess, I would say he's either low on makeup or fabric. Or someone did something stupid." Blenheim muttered in an equally low tone, neither of them wanting the man to turn his wrath onto them.

"Let's wish Marco luck," Curiel said, Blenheim nodding his agreement as the two fell silent.

"Marco, its a travesty!" Izo whined as he caught up with his brother who was making his way to the commanders' hall just as quick as Izo had made his way to him.

"And what is it this time Izo?" Marco asked, only the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone. He loved all of his brothers and sisters, truly he did, but there was only so much one man could take. After dropping the brothers' food off with Thatch it had been one thing after another. First, the third division needed more weapons because someone had dropped a box of them overboard, and before they could be retrieved they had sunk deep below the surface. Namur was away on a mission at the moment to check on one of their islands that was reporting a rookie pirate tormenting them so they couldn't have him retrieve them for them.

Then, a group from the eleventh division was delayed in heading off to one of their own missions to recon an island that they were thinking of making a part of their territory because the boats they had planned on using had sprung leaks.

Along with many more various complaints ranging from minor to serious, the latest one had come from the infirmary, the nurses informing him that numbers weren't matching up in terms of the supplies they were supposed to have versus the supplies they did have, which meant he had to go get the original report from his room to verify things.

Which brings them to now, where he was heading to his room to get said report while Izo followed with a frown that said he had something he was going to complain about.

"It's horrible! I was mending a shirt for Theo from fifth division when I realized I'd run out of fabric! I have too many things to fix and mend, and with no fabric, that means everyone's going to be hounding me until I get more and can return their personal items to them fixed." Izo said with a huff as he hid his hands in his sleeves.

Marco took a deep, steadying breath as he opened the door to the Commander's hallway, he and Izo entering it and closing the door behind them.

"I'll make sure to set aside some extra money for your division then. We're stopping at an island soon so-" Marco paused as he and Izo walked towards his room. To get to his room you had to pass the trio's room, and in doing so they both saw the pile of food still sitting on the rolling cart that he and Thatch had brought earlier.

"Did Thatch bring the brothers lunch early?" Izo asked, looking at the cart in confusion. Whenever the brothers had a bad day they always ate the food, so it was surprising to see it still sitting there untouched.

"No, that's from breakfast. I brought it down with him, yoi." Marco said, walking up to the food and examining it to see if any of it had even a bite taken out of it. After finding that it was all untouched he and Izo shared a look before the first mate stepped in front of the door, raising his hand and knocking.

No response.

"Do you think they're ok?" Izo asked, worry seeping into his tone as he looked from the closed door to Marco. The Phoenix didn't say anything, instead opting to knock again.

"Ace? Sabo? Luffy? You three alright, yoi?" Marco called but was once again met with silence. Frowning Marco realized that he was going to have to enter the room. He didn't want to invade on the brothers' privacy, especially if they were having a bad day, but if they weren't eating then it could be serious. After sharing one more look with Izo, Marco grabbed the handle of the door, twisting it and pushing it open, poking his head in.

"You guys alright in here?" He asked, but stopped when he saw the three brothers lying in their pushed together beds. All of them looked to be sleeping, however it seemed to be anything but a peaceful sleep. Sweat poured down all of their faces and they're features were scrunched up as if in pain. Luffy looked to be thrashing a bit, and even Ace and Sabo were moving their heads from side to side as if trying to move away from something. There were low sounds of whimpers coming from them, whichever one though was indistinguishable, and it only made Marcos worry increase.

He pushed the door open and entered the room quickly, moving to the bed and attempting to wake Sabo, the closest one to him, up from whatever he was dreaming.

"Hey, Sabo, wake up, yoi." He said in a hushed, gentle voice, though there was a bit of urgency to the tone. In the doorway Izo watched with worry, not wanting to get in the way. When Sabo didn't wake up Marco turned to look at Izo, lips thin.

"Go get another Commander. We're taking them to the nurses, yoi." Marco said sternly, Izo nodding quickly and rushing out onto the deck. He scanned the deck quickly, finding Vista to be the closest.

"Vista! We need you down here now!" Izo called, gaining everyone's attention with his worried shout.

"Izo? What's wrong?" Haruta asked, he and Jiru stopping their spar to look at the man along with everyone else. The geisha man didn't respond though, instead telling Vista to hurry again before turning and rushing back to the brothers' room. He could hear Vista, along with a few others, follow him, but paid them no mind. If something was wrong with the brothers it needed their immediate attention, and if this had been happening since breakfast, they needed that attention five hours ago.

"Izo! Hold on, what's happening!" Ignoring the shouts Izo entered the brothers' room again, seeing Marco already shifting Sabo into his arms.

"Can you get Luffy? Vista, you get Ace." Marco said, his face set in a frown that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Izo nodded as he rushed over to the bed, gently pulling the youngest towards him and into his arms, ignoring the wrinkles that were inevitably going to be left in the kimono as he did. Vista quickly moved up beside him, pulling Ace just as gently into his arms as they turned to leave the room.

"Oh my Kami, what's wrong with them?" Harutas voice was hushed, full of surprise as he watched his brothers carry the trio out. He didn't get a response as the three moved quickly out of the hall and out on deck, ignoring the many worried eyes as they rushed to the infirmary. Out in the sunlight, the brothers looked even worse, their skin a pale shade that was almost sickly. Izo could feel Luffy shaking in his arms and worried that the boy might flail like he had seen him do in the bed.

"Whiskey, the brothers need help, yoi!" Marco called as he barged into the infirmary, Izo, and Vista close behind. The head nurse looked up in surprise but quickly schooled her features as she saw the trio.

"Set them on the beds. Shirley, go get some IV's in case we need them." Whiskey ordered, Mary rushing off to do as told while the Commanders did as they were told.

"What happened?" Whiskey asked as she quickly began assessing her new patients.

"We don't know, they never showed up for breakfast so we thought it was another one of their bad days, yoi. When I went to get that report for you I noticed they hadn't eaten the breakfast Thatch made them so I checked on them and found them like this." Marco said, gesturing to the three who looked to still be in immense pain. Whiskey nodded, jotting notes down on her clipboard.

"I'll need you all to wait outside. I'll tell you what I know when I know it." Whiskey said, all of them nodding as they turned to leave the room. It was quiet out in the hallway, Marco, Izo, and Vista walking out to see Haruta, Jozu, and Jiru waiting patiently for them.

"We sent the others away. The hall was too crowded for all of them." Jozu said, hinting to the fact that a lot of people were worried about the brothers' well being.

"We'll have to calm them down before they cause a panic," Vista said to Marco who nodded.

"Go and tell them that Whiskey's already on it, yoi. If they ask what happened tell them we don't know but Whiskeys doing her best to help them." Marco ordered, Vista nodding as he rushed off to stop a mass panic from happening.

"I'll go tell Pops," Izo said, his past worry about lack of fabric seeming petty compared to his worry now. The geisha man left the hall quickly, leaving the four commanders alone.

"So what _did_ happen?" Haruta asked softly, worry on his face. He really liked the brothers, and he hoped they were ok, but everything had happened so fast that he didn't even have a clue what happened. Were the brothers hurt? Had someone hurt them? Or had they hurt themselves? He didn't know, and by the looks of it, Marco didn't know either.

"I don't know, yoi. Izo and I noticed that the brothers' breakfast hadn't been touched so I checked on them and they all looked like they were in pain and sweating. None of them had fevers but I couldn't wake any of them, yoi, so we brought them to the infirmary." Marco said concisely, massaging his forehead. Haruta frowned.

"All we can do is wait for the nurses' report," Jozu said softly.


	66. Waking Up

The sun was shining, the water was splashing against the side of the boat, and the cuffs were clicking closed around his wrists. A fire burned in his eyes as he glared menacingly at the man who had just locked the draining stone around his wrists, immobilizing his hands from being used to fight.

"What the hell is this?!" He growled the words out venomously, but he got no answer, not even a flinch or look of guilt as he was kicked, literally, off the ship and right onto another.

"Let's call it getting rid of a pest." He bristled at the words, something breaking painfully inside him.

He had trusted them. He had gone against his every instinct, and here it was, biting him in the ass.

"Now now, you'll be home soon, don't you worry," A new voice behind him said, the man walking up to him with a smile, placing his hand on his shoulder. He snarled at the doctor, trying to move away, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated.

"I know you're excited to return, but you don't want to exhaust yourself," The doctor said, the words spoken as if they were supposed to be caring, but he knew that wasn't the case. The only thing those damn doctors cared about was results. Results and their _'Golden Children.'_

"Who would be excited to go anywhere with you?" He snapped out, the doctor remaining unflinching. No more words were spoken, not because he didn't have more to say, but because a needle was piercing his skin and everything was starting to feel foggy, his mouth moving at a delay to the words his brain was trying to get out. As much as he wanted to scream, yell, curse, _fight_ , he couldn't. His legs felt weak and he fell to the deck, hands holding him in an upright position as he gasped for breath. It felt like he couldn't breath, like someone was sitting on his chest, like the air had to be filtered through something before it was allowed to fill his lungs.

Sounds became muffled as he looked up, looked over to the other ship beside them, to the ship that had betrayed him, turned him back over to the damn doctors. He could see them looking over their railing, glaring disdainfully at him, some scoffing and leaving as if they had better things to do.

He watched as the biggest of them all grinned sinisterly at him, and he knew that pain in his chest wasn't coming from the injection the doctor gave him. He knew that there was nothing they could give him that would hurt him as much as this.

As things became too fuzzy to see clearly, he fell sideways, ignoring the wetness running down his cheeks.

When he woke up next, he felt groggy, like there was sludge all around him, keeping him from moving fluidly. Blinking a few times and flexing his fingers he looked around and felt his blood run cold.

The blinding white clued him into exactly where he was and the lack of mobility told him he was sitting in the horrid chair he had gotten all too familiar with.

"Welcome home." The words were chilling, a shiver wracking through his body as he looked up at the doctor who was leaning into his face, smiling.

"There's so much we have to catch up on. No more dilly-dallying." With a snap of the doctors' fingers, nurses poured into the room, all holding needles or scalpels as they advanced towards him. Despite his struggles, the restraints held him in place, allowing the nurses to poke and prod at him. It felt liked hundreds, thousands, of bee stings as needles went in, quickly being replaced by a new one the second the liquid was injected.

All the meanwhile the doctor merely stared on, a smile frozen in place on his face as he watched the show.

The pain coursed through his body, but that wasn't all that surprising. He knew the second that he had betrayed that this was going to happen. It felt as if cutting off his every limb would be less painful than what was currently happening to him, but he would never get any such relief like that. Not that he wanted that, but at that moment, it felt as if he would give anything for it to just _stop_.

It was hard to breathe again. Not only that, but it hurt to even attempt breathing. Something essential, something he had to do, felt worse than he imagined what suffocating would feel like. What was the point of continuing breathing if every breath he took, his lungs felt like they were on fire? Every time his lungs expanded even marginally, it felt as if someone was shooting him in the chest?

And the migraine. It pounded behind his eyes, made everything hard to see. Blinking hurt. Moving his eyes hurt. Moving his head hurt.

He just wanted it to be over.

When the darkness started creeping into his vision, he welcomed it. So long as he was given some relief from all the torturous pain, he would let anything happen. His labored breathing sounded loud in his ears, his heart pumping alongside it, and he watched as the darkness swallowed the nurses around him. He knew they were still there, he could feel the needles and the scalpels, but he couldn't see them anymore through his spotty vision.

All he could see was the doctor staring straight at him, still smiling. The doctor was unmoving, unblinking, uncaring. He would have thought the doctor was a statue if he didn't know any better.

His vision was getting even darker now. The doctor was becoming even harder to make out now, but even so, the picture of his smiling face was imprinted on his brain. He let his eyes slide closed, hopefully for the last time, and tried to breathe through the pain.

They call people monsters, but he knew.

People weren't monsters. the true monsters were people.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What's the verdict Whiskey?" Marco asked. The commanders and Whitebeard all watched as the nurse fiddled with her clipboard. They were in the meeting room because even though everyone on board was worried about the brothers, they didn't want to start another panic if there was something truly wrong with the brothers. If there was something horribly wrong, the commanders and captain would handle it, and if it was something they, Kami forbid, couldn't help, they would have to slowly break it to the crew.

"I, honestly, have no clue." Whiskey said with a sigh as she looked at her clipboard with a hard look before letting it fall to the table, looking up at Whitebeard.

"I've done every test I can think of, I checked their blood, I even did tests for the more rarer conditions, but I've never seen or heard of anything like this happening before." The head nurse continued with a frustrated look on her face.

"But are they ok?" Thatch asked in concern. He had really come to like the brothers and after their shitty lives, he just wanted them to be happy and healthy.

"I-... I don't know. There isn't any damage internally and there isn't anything externally, however, it looks as if they are in pain. Not to mention the sweating and the thrashing." Whiskey said, picking up the clipboard again to reexamine her notes as if the answer would show itself the twentieth time after looking at it.

"What can you tell us, daughter?" Whitebeard asked gently, seeing how conflicted Whiskey looked about the brothers. The nurse looked up at her father figure again, sighing.

"All I know is that it looks as if the brothers are just sleeping." Whiskey said, confusing everyone again.

"But we can't wake them up? So is it like a coma?" Jiru asked, remembering that Marco mentioned trying to wake them up with no success.

"Yes, exactly, however, people in comas are completely unresponsive. They don't move, they can't feel pain and they don't react to light or sound." Whiskey informed easily, probably having told this to herself many times while examining the brothers.

"But the brothers have been moving..." Izo said softly, Whiskey nodding.

"Exactly. A coma would be the easy answer if they weren't so expressive and responsive. There isn't any trauma that would knock them unconscious and there isn't anything physically wrong with them. It merely seems as if their sleeping. Dreaming even. My best guess is that they're stuck in REM sleep, which is unusual in of itself." This earned the nurse looks of confusion.

"Whys that?" Fossa asked.

"Well, when we sleep we go through cycles. The REM cycle is when we have our most vivid dreams. The first cycle, we only stay in REM sleep about ten minutes, but as we continue cycling the amount of time we stay in that cycle extends longer and longer. What's unusual is the fact that it's been going on this long. Normally, by our last REM cycle, we'll reach maybe an hour, but it should never be as long as this. Not to mention the fact that we cant wake them up at all." Whiskey said, once again putting her clipboard down.

"So... they're basically just dreaming and we cant wake them up." Atmos summarized. Whiskey nodded in confirmation.

"Are they at risk of getting hurt? Or getting worse?" Kingdew asked.

"As much as I wish I had answers, I don't. There is the potential that they'll hurt themselves with their thrashing which is why we've restrained their hands and feet, but other than that, I don't know if this could be permanent, become permanent, or even gets worse somehow. All we can do right now is monitor them and attempt waking them up." Whiskey said. It was silent after that, everyone mulling over the nurses' words.

"Thank you, daughter. Are we able to visit them?" Whitebeard asked, everyone looking at the nurse, all of them wanting to see the brothers despite the state they were in.

"You can, but it's not exactly a pleasant sight. There are also a few more tests we'll be attempting to wake them up." Whiskey said a bit hesitantly.

"We understand. If at any point we have to leave, we will." Whitebeard said, the commanders nodding in agreement. Whiskey looked at them all a minute before nodding as well.

"Alright. I should be heading back now. We can take up to four guests for now." She said, standing and picking her clipboard up as she did. She didn't stay long enough to listen to the debate of who got to see them first, deciding her presence was needed more in the infirmary.

The brothers had always been a mystery, and even after thinking they had learned all they could about the brothers, they still continued to mystify them. Looking over her notes, again, Whiskey let another huff of frustration fall from her lips.

There were no drugs in their systems, they responded to light, they seemed to be feeling pain, and they were moving which already contradicted what she knew about REM sleep. Whenever someone went into REM sleep the skeletal muscles would be paralyzed.

None of it made sense, but then again, nothing about the brothers made sense. Heightened hearing, heightened smell, heightened eyesight, rapid healing. The list of abnormalities piled high. Not to mention the many phobias and, no doubt, mental illness they had because of their time in the facility. Whiskey had a strong feeling that all three of the brothers suffered from PTSD, but due to the brothers' phobia of nurses, she had yet to push the envelope on that subject. She didn't want to scare them away, but she truly wanted to help them.

It was a very conflicting feeling.

Walking into the infirmary showed her that there had been no improvement in the brothers' condition. Nurses surrounded their beds, all trying to find out what was wrong, and for a brief moment, Whiskey was glad the three were comatose, for lack of a better word, while it was happening. If they had been awake, they would be terrified.

"Shirley, what's the update?" Whiskey asked as she walked over to a nurse with reddish-pink hair. Shirley looked over at Whiskeys words before looking at her own clipboard.

"Nothing much. We've tried a few more things to wake them up but we've been unsuccessful." She said, gesturing to the still very much asleep brothers. Whiskey sighed, moving to see what Shirley had written.

"Damn. And I thought for sure that one would do something." Whiskey said, looking at one of the methods the nurses had tried.

"Me too. Didn't do anything though." Shirley said sadly, looking at the brothers again. The door opened and they looked over, noticing it was just the first group of visitors.

Jiru, Jozu, Rakuyo, and Vista all walked in, casting worried glances at the brothers.

"If you wait there a moment we should be clearing up around the brothers. You can sit near them then." Whiskey said, noticing that, after another failed attempt at waking the brothers up, the nurses were dispersing again. The commanders nodding, waiting patiently until the spaces beside the brothers was clear, before moving to sit down.

The brothers, despite being restrained, were still attempting to move their bodies, their straps straining as they pulled, and their faces scrunched in a mixture of what looked like pain and fear.

"My God," Vista muttered as he sat beside Sabo.

"I know. We're running out of tests, and at this rate, we're going to have to wait it out." Whiskey said. There was silence, only the sounds coming from the brothers filling the air. Time seemed to pass slowly as all the nurses continued working, the commanders occasionally moving away to let them work. Eventually, those four Commanders left and a new four came in, like a rotation. At one point, Whitebeard himself had even come in to visit, but after the designated time was up, he too left, allowing a new four to enter.

This went on until it was Marco, Thatch, Izo, and Haruta in the room. It was the fourth rotation of commanders and it had been about two and a half hours since the brothers had been in the infirmary. Whiskey was at one of the desks in the room, pouring over her notes again and again. She only had one more idea that they could try, she was just waiting for a nurse to bring her what she needed in order to attempt it.

"I've got it Whiskey!"

Speak of the devil.

As Whiskey got to work on her newest idea the commanders all sat despairingly at the brothers' bedside.

"What do you think they're dreaming about?" Haruta asked softly from where he sat beside Luffy's bed. Izo sighed beside him, looking at Sabo's pained expression.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look like a fun dream." He said, moving the blondes hair from his sweaty forehead, having sat beside Sabo.

"No kidding," Thatch muttered from where he sat on Luffy's other side. Marco, at Aces side, sighed, opening his mouth to speak, but stopping when Whiskey started walking over.

All of the commanders had been given instructions on what to do when the nurses attempted to wake the brothers up. It was unpredictable what state the three would be in if they woke up, so the commanders were to be the first thing they saw rather than a nurse. If the brothers seemed calm, they would unstrap them immediately, but if they seemed hostile, they would attempt to calm them down until they could be let go without worry for anyone's safety.

"Another test, yoi?" Marco asked instead of whatever he was going to say before. Whiskey nodded, holding a vial of liquid in her hand, the top corked shut.

"Mhmm. If this one doesn't work its back to the drawing board." She said with a tired sigh. Marco and the rest of the commanders watched as Whiskey moved to the other side of Aces bed where no one was sitting and uncorked the vial.

"What is it?" Haruta asked, eyeing the liquid in confusion.

"It's like the smelling salt we tried on Ace and Sabo the first time they were brought in. This one, however, has a few changes to it. I added jasmine, which increases beta waves, and citrus and peppermint scents which help in the same way smelling salts do." The nurse said, placing the vial under Aces nose, careful not to let the thrashing teens face knock it out of her hand.

"Doesn't sound like it'll smell all that good." Thatch said, scrunching his nose up in thought, but got no response to his words as everyone watched, hoping the concoction would work. It seemed it wasn't going to though, Aces face in the same mixture of terror and pain as it had been the whole time, but right as Whiskey began pulling the vial back, pushing the cork back into place, Aces eyes flew open and he made the loudest gasp for air the crew had ever heard. It almost sounded as if he hadn't been breathing for a few minutes and he was only now getting oxygen.

Everyone could only stare in shock for a minute before there was finally movement. Marco shot up out of his chair with Thatch, the two of them moving to either side of Ace and watching as the teen looked around wildly, the same terror they had seen on his face now in his eyes.

"Ace-"

"What's going on?! Let me go you damn bastards!" Aces fear left, quickly being replaced with a fiery hatred that shocked the two commanders momentarily.

"Hey, Ace, calm down-"

"I swear when I get my hands on you-!" Ace cut himself off as he pulled on his restraints furiously.

"Calm down Ace, everything's alright-"

"I'm gonna kill you! When I get my hands on you I'm gonna rip that damn smile off your goddamn face!" The snarled words surprised the commanders but they shook it off, Marco watching as Ace continued straining himself, trying to get out of his restraints.

"Ace!" Marco said firmly, snapping Aces attention to him. He kept a straight face as the teen stared at him.

"You need to calm down. No one here is going to hurt you. You're safe, it was just a dream, yoi." Marco said, his voice still firm, but gentle at the same time. Ace stared at him a minute, his expression slowly relaxing and the anger fading.

"Marco? Wha-? What's happening?" Ace asked, pulling at the restraints again, this time only gently, as if testing them.

"You and your brothers have been... sleeping? We're not exactly sure, yoi, but we couldn't wake any of you up." Marco said, and sensing that the teen was calm now, began undoing the restraints, Thatch helping.

"Sleeping? Crap, where are Luffy and Sabo?!" Ace asked as if suddenly realizing something, his eyes going wide.

"They're right there-" Thatch was cut off when Ace jumped out of the bed, rushing over to Sabo's side. Izo stood up on the other side, in case he needed to stop Ace, but didn't do anything as Ace held Sabo's shoulder in a firm grip, keeping the blonde from thrashing.

"Hey Sabo, it's alright, it's just a dream, you're safe, we're safe." Ace murmured softly. He continued muttering similar sayings for a few minutes, even when Izo started to tell him that it wasn't working. Ace merely sent a glare to Izo which shut him up, before returning to murmuring to Sabo. Another few minutes later and Whiskey was getting ready to step in and stop the oldest of the brothers, but suddenly the blonde woke up in much the same manner Ace had.

Instead of anger like Ace, though, Sabo's face was full of panic. Like Ace though, the blonde pulled against his restraints, and once he realized he was restrained in the first place the panic only grew.

"Sabo! Calm down, I'm right here, we're out of there, no one's gonna get us. Look, the restraints can be taken off, and they will be taken off." Ace said, unstrapping one of his brother's hand. Sabo's eyes watched as his hand was freed before looking up at Ace.

"A-Ace?" He asked in confusion, looking around once more.

"That's right, we're all ok, but we have to wake Luffy up." Ace said, beginning to undo the rest of the restraints with Izo's help.

"Luffy?" He asked, his voice still a bit distant.

"Yes, Luffy's alright, but he's stuck too so we have to wake him up." Ace replied softly, helping Sabo sit up once he was completely free.

"Sleeping? Right, yeah, alright, let's wake him up." Sabo said, seeming to get more of his bearings straight as he also got out of bed, the two brothers heading over to Luffy, the Commanders all moving out of their way and watching in interest. Even though they had tried everything they could think of to wake the brothers up, they were able to do it in a handful of minutes with just the repeating of a few simple phrases. It also seemed as if this had happened before, or at least something similar to it.

"Luffy, it's alright, you're dreaming, Ace and I are right here so all you have to do is wake up and it'll all be gone," Sabo said gently, brushing Luffy's hair back.

"Yeah, everything's alright, we're all safe. We're all free. When you wake up we can go look at the ocean and the clouds." Ace said soothingly. Like with Sabo, it took a few minutes, but finally, Luffy was awake as well, eyes blown open in terror. The tears came quick and fast as Ace and Sabo immediately got rid of the restraints holding the youngest down and pulled him into their arms.

"Shh, shh, It's ok Luffy, we're all safe." Sabo murmured quietly in Luffy's ear and the boy sobbed. The commanders stood awkwardly to the side, not wanting to interrupt. Ace and Sabo seemed to have it handled after all, but there was a lot of questions that they had about exactly what had just happened.

Tapping caught their attention and they noticed Luffy was tapping with his trembling fingers on Aces arm.

"I know it smells. Why don't you and I go sit outside for a minute?" Ace asked Luffy nodded fervently at the idea. Haruta looked like he was going to speak up, but Marco placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from speaking and instead looking at Marco in confusion. Marco merely shook his head, the two of them turning back to watch as Ace and Luffy got out of the bed, Luffy still obviously shaken up, while Sabo remained sitting, watching the two walk off and out of the infirmary.

When the door finally shut completely behind the two Sabo sighed, rubbing his forehead as he turned to face the commanders and nurse.

"Sorry about all this." The blonde said sincerely.

"No, it's alright, but... what _was_ that?" Thatch asked, eliciting another sigh from Sabo in response.

"As much as I wish I had answers to that question, we're as in the dark about this issue as you," Sabo said truthfully.

"But it looked as if this has happened before," Izo said, thinking back to how easy it was for the brothers to wake each other up.

"That's true because it has. I'll give the best explanation I can, but as I said before, we don't know much about whatever... _this_ was. Sometimes when we go to sleep we just... can't wake up. We get stuck in our dreams, or rather, our nightmares, and it's extremely difficult for us to wake up. We don't know how long we would stay asleep without outside assistance, the longest its lasted before was a few hours. This rarely happens, and we've never had all of us stuck at once, normally it's just one or two of us." Sabo said, his nightmare still flashing behind his eyes, and he had to keep reminding himself that that's all it was. A nightmare.

"When did this start happening?" Whiskey asked.

"I... don't know... sometime during the facility. We've always just assumed it was another test, another side effect from a drug, but then it never went away. My best guess is maybe... three years in?" Sabo said, trying to remember who even got stuck first, but coming up blank.

"And when you're... stuck, you're dreaming? Having a nightmare?" Whiskey asked for confirmation.

"That's right. They're not very pleasant to put it lightly and their extremely vivid. It may as well be reality for us, so when we wake up, as you saw, we're very disoriented and can't tell the difference between our nightmares and reality." Sabo said.

"What time is it anyway?" He asked, looking over to the window, noticing that it was pretty bright outside.

"Its almost lunch. We noticed that you didn't eat the breakfast we left for you so we checked on you and found you still sleeping, but then we couldn't wake you up, yoi." Marco explained, Sabo's eyebrows furrowing in thought.

"Definitely the longest yet then. Thank you for helping us out. How did you wake Ace up?" Sabo questioned curiously prompting Whiskey to hold the vial she had used in the air.

"I made a concoction of the smelling salt I used on you and it seemed to do the trick after a few minutes." Sabo nodded at the head nurses explanation, eyeing the vial curiously. He was about to say something more when he turned his head towards the door, everyone doing the same out of instinct.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment. It seems Luffy's having a bit more difficulty waking up. I'll be back to answer any more questions you have after if you don't mind." Sabo said, his nerves returning as he remembered the fact he was in an infirmary, addressing a nurse. His nightmare came back to his mind and his every instinct told him it was going to begin to happen right in front of him, but he pushed that thought down, taking a deep breath and standing.

"Sounds good. I just want to make sure you three are alright." Whiskey said. Sabo smiled to her, nodding before turning and hurrying out the door. He heard the commanders leaving with him, but didn't pay them much mind. It wasn't like they had any reason to stay in the infirmary now that the brothers were out of it after all.

He focused his attention back on Ace and Luffy, the former attempting to calm the latter, but it wasn't working as well as it normally would.

Walking out onto the deck, Sabo spotted his brothers immediately. It was kind of hard not to when the entire deck was looking their way. Ace sat beside Luffy on the railing, rubbing the youngest back comfortingly as he mumbled soothing words, but they didn't seem to be having the intended effect. Luffy's body was wracked with shivers, and both Ace and Sabo knew it wasn't because he was cold.

"Look, Sabo's right there, we're all safe, all together. No one's gonna hurt us. We're apart of the Whitebeards crew now, and we're here with Thatch and Marco and Izo and Whitebeard. No one's gonna tear us apart here." Ace murmured as Sabo walked up to them. The blonde was quick to climb onto the railing beside Luffy, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Hey Lu, Ace is right, we're safe here," Sabo said softly, ignoring all of the onlookers the best he could. Once again, he ignored his own nightmare fighting its way into his thoughts, forcing himself to live in the moment. After hours of being stuck though, it made it extremely hard to just push the thoughts aside.

"B-but what ab-bout the... the big m-monster and the n-needles and the d-darkness and-"

"None of that here, right Ace?" Sabo asked, looking at the oldest who looked around dramatically.

"Nope, I think we're all clear on monsters, needles, and darkness." Ace assured, turning to look back to Luffy who still looked both worried and terrified.

"Why don't we go sit with Whitebeard, hm? You can get some warmth and he'll keep all the monsters away for us." Sabo said, nodding to the giant captain who he had seen looking their way with worry every once in a while. Luffy looked toward the Captain as well, a bit of hesitance now appearing on his face as he took in the Captains appearance.

He had seen the Captain many times. He had felt the Captain's emotions even more times than that. So why did the man seem so foreign to him right now? Why did everyone around him seem like a stranger, even though he knew for a fact that he had seen them all at least once during his stay here on their ship?

Logically, he knew none of them were strangers, none of them were going to hurt him, but something in his mind told him that that wasn't true, that he had to be careful, watch his back. He knew it was because of the nightmare he'd had, knew that was the reason for the confusing thoughts, the feelings of terror and uncertainty, but it didn't help any.

With Ace and Sabo at his side, their feelings of love, warmth, and comfort slowly filtering into him, he found it easier to ground himself, to remember he wasn't sleeping anymore, and that being here was ok, he was safe here.

That didn't stop the panic, however.

"All of them?" Luffy's voice was small and timid, but Ace and Sabo tried to not let it phase them, their expressions softening.

"Every single one. No monster is a match for him." Ace boasted easily. It was definitely a turn around from the man who would have claimed that the captain himself was a monster only a few weeks ago, but it was a welcome change. True, he may only be saying it to keep Luffy calm, but he was saying it none the less.

Luffy took another nervous glance to the captain, trying to push down the panic, the heavy breathing, the sweat he could still feel lingering on his forehead.

"Mm... I wanna go..." He said quietly, clenching his fists on the railing one more time before releasing his hold and getting off, Ace and Sabo following.

"I still have to go talk to Whiskey, but I can stay out here for a little bit until then. I could even ask one of the commanders to go get her and ask her to talk with us out here if you don't want me to go." Sabo said gently to Luffy, not wanting to leave if the boy needed him, but not wanting to scare him more with a nurse if unnecessary.

"I-I think I'll be fine with Ace..." Luffy said as he walked, eyes glued to the ground as he did. Sabo nodded, he and Ace sharing a look.

"I'll be as quick as I can and then I'll join you again." The blonde said the eldest nodding in response as Sabo turned to leave, giving one last comforting squeeze to Luffy's shoulder. He saw the commanders who had been with them in the infirmary at Whitebeards side, watching the brothers as they made their slow approach, but thankfully none of them attempted to make conversation with them. Sabo took this as a good sign and left his brothers, walking at a quick pace to the infirmary, wanting to get this over with quickly so he could be with his brothers again.

Ace watched Sabo leave, making sure no one bothered him as he disappeared into the Moby. Like his brothers, his own nightmare was clawing its way into his mind, telling him that none of this was real, that this was the dream. He was waiting for the moment he would wake up back in that horrible nightmare land, but realistically, he knew that wouldn't happen. This was reality, not that terrible dream his mind had conjured up in an attempt at showing him his worst fears.

When he was sure Sabo was gone safely, he turned his attention back to Luffy and their destination. He easily ignored the stares of the Captain and the Commanders, instead, focusing on guiding Luffy over to the side of Whitebeards chair, both of them resting their backs against it. No one said anything to them, and they had no intention of saying anything either, so they all sat in silence save for Ace murmuring words to Luffy whenever it looked like he needed them.

As promised, it wasn't too long before Sabo was reemerging out onto deck, heading right back to Ace and Luffy in seconds.

And the three sat there. They sat mostly in silence, sometimes speaking in hushed voices amongst each other, and occasionally tapping to each other, but mostly, it was silent. They sat there until lunch where they ate the food that Thatch brought out onto the deck for them, and they stayed there until dinner, where the gesture was repeated.

Sitting out there for that long, you think they would get bored, but after their traumatizing nightmares, all they wanted to do was stay with each other, prove to themselves that everything they had seen was a nightmare, not true.

When they finished dinner they got up, ready to head to bed, but Izo stopped them, smiling.

"I think you three should stay just a bit longer. I'm pretty sure Thatch has something he wanted to give you." Confused, the brothers nodded, sitting back down against the throne that was Whitebeards chair, waiting for the chef to reappear with whatever it was he wanted to give them.

It didn't take too long before he came out, balancing plates on his arms like he was apart of a circus.

"Dessert is here!" Thatch sang as he set the plates out in front of them. Luffy smiled and Ace and Sabo both raised an eyebrow. It wasn't often that Thatch made dessert, but they weren't going to complain, especially seeing as it was food.

"Cake!" Luffy exclaimed happily, grabbing his plate and shoving the sweet into his mouth. Sabo smiled now as well, picking up his own plate. It hadn't escaped any of their notice that the man had made all of their favorites today, and that made Sabo's heart warm, knowing that the pirates truly did want to help, even if it was just by doing small things like this.

"Thank you, Thatch," Sabo said before eating, the chef beaming happily.

"No problem! I hope you guys like it." He said, and Ace scoffed, though was smiling as well.

"As if you could make anything we don't like." He said with a slight roll of his eyes, eating with the same ferocity as Luffy. This only seemed to make Thatch beam brighter before he had to excuse himself to make sure the rest of the crew got some dessert. The trio stayed for a few minutes after that, finishing their food, before they finally decided to head to bed.

After some quick good nights, they were rushing back to their room, closing their door and falling into bed with tired sighs coming from all of them. Despite the fact that they were worried about having more nightmares, they all fell asleep within minutes.

As they slept, they only had nice, peaceful dreams of the ocean and big, green jungles.


	67. Targeted Attack

Already, the brothers' morning was a much nicer experience than yesterdays had been.

That wasn't to say it went without a hitch though.

Even though the three were already off to a better start, it was ruined when Luffy quickly began to notice the heavy, omnipresent feeling that hung in the air, cluing him into the fact that someone with darkness was nearby. This, of course, unnerved him and he told his brothers quickly, the two of them stiffening while Sabo strained his hearing for any telltale signs that a certain person was onboard.

Within seconds, they had their answer when Sabo let out a sigh, frown on his face.

"Teach is back. We should be able to avoid him if we stay closer to the right half of the galley on the way to the table." Sabo informed, Ace nodding while Luffy shivered under the pressure of the horrible feeling.

The three sat in their shared room for a few moments longer, gathering themselves before they had to go into the same room with a man they wanted to avoid. When they were ready, they left the room, walking slowly to the galley, Luffy holding onto his brothers' hands as tight as ever as they walked.

When they were finally at the galley they steeled themselves before entering, and once they did they made a beeline for their table, tunnel vision showing them only their destination and nothing else. They made it without incident, but that didn't mean their hearts weren't pounding from the adrenaline pumping through them.

Ace could practically feel Teach's gaze on them and tried as best he could to ignore it, deciding to focus more on the spider on the wall making its way to a web on the ceiling. Sabo had his hearing trained on everything Teach was letting spill from his mouth while also doing his best to pay attention to what was happening around them. Luffy was taking deep, calming breaths, allowing the Captains warmth to push away the creepy, sickening, darkness.

Food was placed in front of them, and it didn't go unnoticed by the Commanders that the brothers had noticed Teach's return. They had seen the three take the slightly longer way to the table, furthest away from the man, and they could see Ace, who normally watched the entire room, focusing solely on the wall in front of him, not daring to turn his head. All three of them were stiff as boards, though Luffy seemed to be relaxing a bit now that he was sat at the table.

"Good morning," Izo said in an attempt to calm the brothers, though wasn't sure how successful it would be. It seemed to work marginally because Sabo seemed to snap out of it, turning to the commander with a small smile and a nod.

"Good morning Izo." He said, picking up his fork and beginning to eat, a frown replacing the smile quickly.

"He's listening," Luffy said suddenly, both surprising and confusing Izo and the rest of the Commanders, as well as Whitebeard.

"Listening?" Marco asked curiously from where he sat. Luffy nodded, Ace watching the youngest out of the corner of his eye carefully as he began eating quickly, but not so quick that the three could possibly be stuck with Teach out on deck alone.

"Mm. To Teach. Listening for bad things." Luffy said, having noticed that the commanders and captain were worried about them and decided it would be best to explain things to them.

"And Ace isn't looking cause he'll just get mad and then he might end up giving Teach bad looks and make _him_ mad, so he's trying not to look. And I'm letting in warm feelings so I don't have to feel the darkness." Luffy said as he ate, letting in some more warmth at the mention of the darkness.

"That makes sense, yoi." Marco finally said after a second of silence from everyone else as they processed the boy's words. After that, conversation slowly resumed as normal. The brothers continued eating at a pace that ensured they wouldn't finish before at least one other commander did so they would have someone to be out on deck with. It turned out that commander was Izo, and within a few minutes, the four of them were heading to the deck together, Sabo making easy conversation with the man as they made their way out so as to keep Teach from getting any ideas.

It still unnerved the brothers that Teach had been attempting to talk to them the last time he was on the Moby, and they wanted to avoid that at all costs this time.

"So we're already going to be at another island tomorrow?" Sabo asked in confusion. It had only been a few days since they had been to the last one after all.

"That's right. I'm pretty sure there's a legend about this island and the last that once said they were connected a long time ago. The two made up an island so large, it took you over a month to walk from one end to the other." Izo said as they walked out onto the deck.

"Really?" Luffy asked in amazement, trying to imagine just how big the island would have to be.

"Supposedly, yes. Whether that's true or not, who knows, but it does mean that the two islands are extremely close together and travel between them is short." The commander said.

"That's nice at least," Sabo said, to which Izo nodded.

"It is. After all, the crew can get a bit antsy with how short our visits are to some islands, so the fact that we can make two visits within one week definitely helps out there." As Izo finished speaking he sat down on the deck, leaning against the railing and pulling out some fabric he had found in his room from a bag at his side and some sewing needles. The brothers had nothing else to do at the moment so they sat down beside him, Sabo deciding to continue his conversation with the man while Ace and Luffy had a more silent conversation amongst themselves.

"So do you do most of the mending for everyone on this ship?" The blonde asked, watching as the commander began patching up a hole in some pants.

"That's right. There are a few in my division who wanted to help out as well so I taught them the basics and they help from time to time, but for bigger or more intricate tears, I normally handle it myself. I also embroider Pops' mark onto clothing whenever anyone wants it." Sabo watched in fascination as Izo spoke.

"You made all of our clothes when we first got here right? That's pretty impressive. Are you self-taught?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Mostly, yes. I knew someone when I was younger that taught me the bare basics, but after that, I just taught myself how to do it." Izo replied easily, not hesitating once as he stitched the fabric to the pants.

"That must have been pretty difficult." The blonde said. Sabo had had to learn how to mend clothes back when the brothers lived in the forest. They didn't have a lot of clothes back then after all. He had learned from a book, so he could only imagine how difficult it would be to learn everything else without help.

"It wasn't too bad. I did have some difficulties when I learned how to embroider, but other then that, it was pretty easy for me to figure out on my own." The geisha man said. Sabo nodded, enjoying learning more about the people they were now on a crew with.

All the while, he was having to tune out the conversation-turned-argument between his brothers beside him.

Of course, it had started off innocent enough, but as they got more comfortable here on the ship, Ace was also reverting back to his teasing self and seemed to enjoy riling Luffy up just as much as he used to.

'Yeah, but fire could burn down that whole ship faster then your rubber could take down everyone on it.' Ace retorted with a smirk.

'Nuh-uh! I could use my gum gum whip and knock everyone off faster then your fire could burn!' Luffy replied with a pout.

'But my fire would make them jump overboard. Mission accomplished.' Ace said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

'Rubbers still better!' Ace snorted at that.

'Yeah right, fires way cooler.' Luffy glared at Aces response.

'No way! Rubber!'

'Fire.'

'Rubber!'

'Fire!'

"Would you two stop already? I'm trying to have an _actual_ conversation over here. I don't need to listen to you two argue." Sabo said sternly, eyes narrowed at his two brothers. The blondes words surprised Izo who looked up from his mending to look at Ace and Luffy, who Sabo was clearly addressing now. The commander had noticed the twos tapping, but seeing as he had no clue what was being said, he paid it no mind. Obviously, it was something that Sabo had been paying attention to, and apparently it was an argument.

"But Sabo, tell him, rubbers way cooler!" Luffy whined, turning to look at the blonde who was frowning at the two now.

"Nope. Fires still better. More effective." Ace retorted, arms still crossed.

"Seriously? How long is this going to be an argument between you two? It's been so many years, I think I've lost track." Sabo said, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Only because Ace is a meanie," Luffy said stubbornly, mimicking Ace by crossing his arms, pouting.

"More like you're too stubborn to see that fires cooler than rubber." Ace continued taunting, knowing it would just rile the youngest up again.

"See! Meanie!" Luffy said, pointing to the eldest who merely laughed in response.

"You know, if you two would just-" Sabo stopped mid-sentence, a look of confusion on his face that quickly morphed into concern and slight fear.

"Sabo?" Ace asked, tensing at his brothers' sudden change of mood. Luffy tensing as well, both because of his own worry, but also because he could feel Sabo's emotions.

"Sabo, what's wrong?" Ace asked again, Izo watching with concern now as well, mending forgotten on the deck.

"Ssh, I need to listen," Sabo said, and it didn't sit well with the brothers that Sabo was obviously hearing something distressing and the only person they could think to be the cause was Teach.

As this was happening, more and more of the crew were starting to exit from the galley, all having loud boisterous conversations amongst themselves.

"11062, 11085, and 10097... most important... close by... intel" He couldn't hear the words clearly, both from a mixture of the loud noise coming from the crew and because whoever he was listening to was far away.

"Could you tell everyone to be quiet for a moment? Please?" Sabo asked Izo, nearly forgetting his manners with how stressed he suddenly felt. It didn't sit well with him that there was someone close by that was talking about them and he had no clue why. He barely saw Izo nod and get up before he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the muffled words.

"No chances... retrieve all... dangerous kids." Sabo tried making sense of the words he could hear, tried filling in the blanks, but it was difficult. He could hear the crew around him quieting down, could hear Ace and Luffy shifting nervously beside him, but forced himself to forget about all that for a moment and focus solely on the voice speaking.

'Someone talking about us.' Sabo tapped to his brothers, too focused on listening to talk. Whoever had been talking before was quiet now, another voice speaking instead, but Sabo couldn't make out a single thing they said.

'Us, or our numbers?' Ace questioned because if someone was talking about them, by their names, it would be bad news. Sure, it was already bad that someone was talking about them, but if it was by their numbers it meant they hadn't figured out who they were yet.

'Numbers. Look over the railing. Can you see anything?' Sabo asked Ace, the teen practically jumping up, nerves scrambled as he looked out at the ocean, searching for anything that could have a person on it. His lips thinned as he quickly spotted the marine ship off in the horizon. They looked like they were heading straight for them, but it would still be a good few hours before they would reach the Moby Dick.

'Marines.' Ace responded, causing Sabo to tense further, his eyes still closed in concentration.

"What's happening, yoi?" Ace heard Marco ask the question, though it was said quietly, probably because Izo had urged the crew to stay quiet. The first commander was kneeling beside Luffy who was watching his brothers carefully, doing his best to ignore the darkness rolling from Teach who stood somewhere in the crowd of curious people.

"Sabo hears someone talking about us. Ace sees marine ship. Being quiet so Sabo can concentrate. The voices are far away and hard for him to hear." Luffy whispered back, fingers fidgeting with the ends of his shorts. Marco frowned, looking at Aces back and deciding the Marine ship was most likely somewhere in the direction he was looking. Sabo's eyes were still closed, a look of deep concentration on his face, and even a bit of frustration.

"Strong even without devil fruits... made sure of it... wanted strong marines after all" The voice was a little clearer now, Sabo able to hear more of the conversation than before, but it only made him more confused. These marines clearly knew about the testing, and they seemed to know more about their powers then the news had released, but the last bit confused him.

Wanted strong marines? What the heck did that mean?

Of course, Sabo had some theories, but who knew what was right.

"If they're that strong can we win? It seems... no chance... monsters." This was the second voice now, the one that hadn't even been distinguishable before.

"You think we... plan B... don't worry about them... after this... won't be an issue anymore." The more the voices spoke, the worse Sabo felt. What did any of this mean? It didn't sound good for him or his brothers though, he knew that much.

"But they're wanted alive... can't kill them..." Sabo's blood ran cold at the words. All those years they'd spent in the hell that was the facility, they knew there was a high risk that something would go wrong and one of them would die. It had happened multiple times even! But the fact that they were now out of that place and he could hear someone saying he was going to kill them so confidently, it made Sabo even more worried than when he was in the facility.

"Screw what the higher-ups say... my life or theirs, I choose theirs... claim it was an accident... won't know a thing if we use this!" So there was something this man had that would kill them? Was it a weapon? An injection? Devil fruit? Sabo wished he could see the people talking, could see what the man was talking about.

"I- I guess..." The second man's voice was full of uncertainty, but the first man just laughed.

"Don't worry, leave it all to me!" The conversation died off after that, but to be sure, Sabo continued listening for another minute. When there was no more conversation about them Sabo opened his eyes, a deep frown on his face.

"What's the matter, son?" Whitebeard asked. Sabo was shocked out of his current worries at Whitebeards words because even though they were apart of the crew now, he hadn't really expected Whitebeard to call him by the affectionate term he used with everyone else.

After shaking himself from that thought and remembering there were more pressing matters to be concerned over, his frown reappeared.

"Marines who know about us. I couldn't make much sense of all of it, but what I did hear wasn't good." Sabo said, and he could see the confusion on the crews' faces besides the commanders and Captain. After all, they knew nothing about the brothers... enhancements.

"Looks like they're a few hours away still." Ace informed, still glaring disdainfully towards where the ship was, only causing further confusion.

"Why don't we go discuss this in the meeting hall, yoi?" Marco suggested before everyone could start asking questions at once. Sabo nodded, standing up off the ground along with Luffy and Marco. The commanders all began addressing their own divisions, telling them that they would inform them what was happening after the meeting which the crew seemed to understand. Sabo also heard Marco telling those who were going on watch to keep an eye out for the marine ship. Meanwhile, Whitebeard and the brothers headed straight to the meeting hall, the brothers finding comfort in the giant man walking with them even though there were marines threatening their lives only hours away.

The walk was quiet, but that was fine with all of them. Luffy was still trying to get over the sudden intense feelings that had come from Ace and Sabo, as well as the fact that he had felt Teachs darkness. All of it was a bad combination for the boy, so he allowed himself to take in more of Whitebeards warmth in hopes that it would help calm him down faster.

When they reached the meeting hall they took their seats, waiting for the rest of the commanders to join them. Within a few minutes, everyone was there, ready to listen.

"What did you hear, son?" Whitebeard asked Sabo, getting straight to the point. The blonde sighed, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair as he tried thinking of the best way to explain the chopped sentences he had gotten.

"I couldn't make out much, they were still too far away, but they definitely know about us. I don't think they know who we are exactly, but they do seem to know we're on the crew, or at least on this ship." Sabo began, already earning confused looks.

"How? You haven't been here all that long and you were only just joining in on fights." Curiel said.

"I don't know. I heard the word intel, but I don't know if that has anything to do with how they found out or not. I didn't hear the context of it. They called us dangerous kids, which isn't really a surprise, but it almost sounded like they were saying they couldn't get all of the dangerous kids? Or they didn't have a chance at getting us all? I'm not exactly sure, but they were talking about no chances, retrieving all, and dangerous kids." Sabo said, still having trouble plugging in missing words.

"After that, they said that we were strong even without our devil fruits, which is true, but the man spoke as if he knew about what powers we had even though it wasn't in the news. I guess it makes sense because he's a marine though. He also knew about the testing, and he said something about, 'wanted strong marines after all' which didn't make any sense at all." Sabo continued.

"Maybe they wanted backup?" Haruta guessed, but Sabo shook his head.

"No, I don't think that was it. The way he said it, it was a matter-of-fact kind of speaking, or even proud almost. It didn't make any sense. The guy he was talking to wasn't as confident and was concerned they couldn't win against us, but the first guy was confident they would have no trouble. He said something about a,'Plan B' and, 'They wouldn't be a problem anymore after this.'" Sabo said, Ace and Luffy stiffening at the unsettling words.

"The second guy was worried because we're wanted alive, but the first guy didn't care about what the, 'higher-ups' said and was choosing our lives over his. He said they could claim it was an accident and it wouldn't matter as long as they used... something. I don't what this thing is, but it doesn't sound good for us if the man's confident tone was anything to go on." This raised some more concern within the group at all the unknowns they were being faced with as well as their lack of information.

"The conversation stopped after that so I didn't hear anything else, but-" A shrill noise stopped Sabo from speaking. A hiss left his mouth as he covered his ears with his hands, the loud noise muffling anything being said around him.

"Sabo?!" Luffy asked in fear, but Sabo couldn't hear it, he could only see Luffy's lips moving and the concern on his face.

"Sabo, what's wrong?!" Ace asked in concern. They could see that it was obviously something to do with his ears, but they couldn't hear anything, so what was the problem?

"There-" Sabo stopped himself again, realizing he couldn't even hear himself speaking. He didn't want to scream over the noise that the others didn't seem to hear, so he started tapping instead, wincing as the noise continued, not stopping or wavering at all. It was a long, consistent noise that seemed to be all around him, as well as inside his head all at once.

'Loud noise, probably too high pitched for you guys to hear, won't stop, can't hear anything.' Sabo tapped, Ace and Luffy reading the words easily.

"There's a loud noise that he thinks is too high pitched for us to hear. He can't hear anything." Ace relayed for those who couldn't understand.

"Does he know where it's coming from?" Thatch asked worry etched clearly on his face. Luffy asked the blonde the question and Sabo shook his head, tapping a reply.

"He doesn't, it sounds like its everywhere. His guess is it's probably coming from the marine ship." Ace relayed.

"Fossa, can you go tell navigation to head towards the marine ship? We need to stop whatever this noise is and seeing as they're already heading our way we may as well meet them." Whitebeard said, Fossa nodding and standing, leaving the room to do as told.

"You three should head back to your room while we take care of this," Whitebeard said, and Luffy could feel the concern still radiating throughout the room, almost masking the warmth that came from the giant. He turned and looked at Ace, and he could feel the turmoil in his brother, could see that he was fighting himself from exclaiming that he wanted to fight too, but even Luffy knew it would be bad if they did. They wanted to stay hidden from the marines, and if they fought, they could find out who they were and use whatever weapon they had on them.

"Alright." Ace said begrudgingly, telling Sabo the plan. Sabo nodded, still holding his ears and trying to ignore the pounding headache that was present thanks to the shrill ringing in his ears.

He just wanted the noise gone.

"I'll walk with you." Izo offered, standing with the brothers. The rest of the commanders stood as well, getting ready to head back out to the deck and make preparations for a battle. Luffy and Ace helped Sabo stand, the sound disorienting the blonde, making him sway a bit, but he righted himself quickly and walked out with them.

The walk through the hall was quick, the commanders chatting behind them, Izo making small talk with Luffy, trying to keep him calm, and Ace helping Sabo whenever he swayed.

They had only taken a couple of steps out onto the deck when chaos ensued.

"Pops! The marine ship is closing in!" Someone said as they ran up, panic on their face, most of the crew at the railing where the marine ship was much closer then it had been when they left.

"How's that possible?! It's only been twenty minutes!" Jiru exclaimed as they saw the ship only minutes away now. It was moving at a fast pace which didn't make sense due to the ships size.

"We're not sure. We were just about to come inform you, but it suddenly sped up to insane speeds and got closer while you were gone." The crewmate said. Whitebeard frowned, eyeing the ship.

"Izo, get the brothers to their room," Whitebeard said, Sabo still fighting the loud ringing that no one else could hear.

"On it Oyaji," Izo said, ushering the brothers along while everyone scrambled for weapons. In the middle of the panic, Ace saw something fly through the sky from the marine ship, landing in the middle of the deck. He didn't have time to warn anyone of what it might be when a loud bang went off.

Sabo was pretty sure he was going to be deaf after this.

Along with the bang was a bright flash of white that blinded everyone who didn't shield their eyes in time, but Ace, who had been looking right at the explosive, was suddenly overcome with intense pain in his eyes, everything going white and then black.

Everyone's ears were ringing and a few couldn't see, but within minutes the effects wore off and everyone could now hear hissing coming from the explosive, a red gas coming from it.

"Goddamnit!" Ace hissed, Izo looking at the teen to find him rubbing furiously at his eyes.

"You alright Ace?" Izo asked in concern.

"I can't see a damn thing and my eyes hurt like hell!" Ace hissed out angrily because this was feeling all too familiar to him, like tests Haru would perform just for the fun of it.

"It burns!" Luffy whined, his voice slightly muffled. Izo looked and saw the teen covering his nose, eyes filled with tears.

"You alright Luffy?" Ace asked in concern, smelling something.

"My head hurts and my nose hurts cause of the really bad smelly stuff!" Luffy said. The commanders and Whitebeard, who were still close by, frowned, realizing that all of this seemed geared towards the brothers, incapacitating them through their enhanced senses.

"Izo, take them to Whiskey instead. Everyone else, prepare for a fight yoi!" Marco called, everyone cheering in agreement and raising the weapons they had in the air. Izo quickly ushered the brothers back the way they had come, back towards the infirmary. Luffy held on tightly to Aces hand with his free hand, the other pinching his nose tightly, his eyes still watering. He guided his blind brother while watching Sabo carefully in case he became unsteady again. Izo walked close at Sabo's side, ready to catch him if needed, the blonde seeming to be extremely disoriented due to all of the sudden assaults on his eyes and ears.

A fight began to sound as they went inside the Moby, but Izo ignored it, more focused on getting the brothers the help they needed. They reached Whiskey quickly, the nurses all having heard the explosion and fighting sounds, already prepping the infirmary for any injured they would have.

"Whiskey, the brothers need help!" Izo called, the nurse spinning at once at the words. One look at the group and she was rushing towards them, calling out orders to the other nurses.

"What happened?" She asked hurriedly, she and Izo guiding them to beds.

"It seemed like a flash bang went off out there and blinded Ace. It also started releasing some gas that Luffy says feels like its burning his nose and Sabo's been hearing a loud ringing in his ears for a few minutes now that none of us can hear. He thinks its probably too high a pitch for us to hear." Izo informed quickly so the nurse could help faster.

"Alright, Izo, go wet a rag and give it to Luffy to smell through. We don't know what's in that gas and its the best we've got to keep anything harmful from hurting him further. Ace I need you to open your eyes for me ok?" Whiskey said, Izo rushing off to do as told while Ace let himself get examined. He could hear the sounds of battle still happening but tried to ignore it. It was kind of easy when he had the fact that he was blind to pay attention to.

"How have you been communicating with Sabo?" Whiskey asked, not knowing about the brothers' silent language.

"We use taps. Learned it a long time ago." Ace said as Izo rushed backhanding Luffy a wet cloth. Whiskey nodded.

"Breathe through the cloth for me Luffy. Also, can you ask Sabo to move his hands for me? I want to make sure there's no damage in his ears." Whiskey asked Luffy who nodded, getting Sabo's attention and placing the cloth to his nose. Sabo looked at Luffy and the youngest placed his hand on Sabo's leg so the blonde would be able to feel the taps and read them easier.

'Whiskey wants to look at your ears to see if they're hurt. Have to move hands.' Luffy tapped Sabo nodding and moving the hands gingerly from his ears, wincing as the slight muffle was removed and the sound grew louder.

"I'll be as quick as I can." Whiskey said, though the words fell on deaf ears. She did the check-up quickly as promised before nodding.

"It doesn't look like damage is being done but we won't know for sure until the noise is stopped. Shirley, can you get me some patches to cover his ears with? We need to muffle the noise as much as possible." Whiskey called to a nurse who nodded, running off to get the items from a cabinet.

"Do we know where the noise is coming from?" Whiskey asked as Shirley brought the patches over.

"We think it's from the marine ship, but Sabo cant tell, it sounds like its everywhere." Ace said, still annoyed at his lack of sight. Once Whiskey taped the patched over Sabo's ears she turned to Ace.

"In that case, we just have to hope Oyaji stops them quickly. It looks like your eyes will be fine and you should hopefully regain your sight within a few minutes. It doesn't look like there's been any permanent damage but we'll know for sure once you get your vision back. It might be blurry for a bit and you might not be able to see far distances as clearly as usual, but that should all just be a side effect that goes away within a day or two of you regaining your eyesight." Whiskey said, jotting down some notes.

"That being said, however, it seems that because you have enhanced vision the flash bang had a more intense effect on you than on anyone else. Normally people regain their eyesight within a couple of minutes in the daylight, but it's already been nearly ten and you still can't see, correct?" Whiskey asked, Ace nodding.

"Not even light." He muttered in annoyance, looking around blindly.

"Again, it might not mean anything, but we don't know for sure. We'll have to monitor it and watch for any changes. Do you have any headaches? Nausea?" Whiskey asked.

"The flash hurt my eyes and they still sting a bit, and my heads pounding." Ace said, Whiskey writing that down in her notes. Luffy was relaying all of the information to Sabo who was worried about Ace, especially since he couldn't hear anything to know what was going on. He could see Aces eyes moving around wildly, but he didn't know that was because his brother couldn't see until Luffy had told him. He could see Luffy breathing through a now damp cloth, but he didn't know that the gas he had seen earlier was something that made Luffys sensitive nose burn.

He could see it all happening right in front of him, but he had no clue what was really happening.

"If anything gets any worse or new symptoms start showing up, tell me immediately. What about you Luffy? Headache? Nausea?" Whiskey asked.

"My head hurts," Luffy said, his voice coming out muffled and a bit nasally from the cloth.

"Then the same thing goes for you. Anything new or if anything gets worse, tell us." Luffy nodded at the nurses' words, finding a bit of comfort in the fact that the wet cloth dulled the burn a bit. There wasn't anything anyone could do now but wait and hope the Whitebeards defeated the marines quickly.

The noises of the battle roared on for at least another fifteen minutes. In that time, Luffy found that the smell slowly dissipated until it was just a minor sting, allowing him to remove the cloth and breathe freely. Ace was now able to see spots of light in his vision, though nothing substantial yet, and Sabo was still stuck with a ringing.

"Hey, I can see stuff again." Ace said after a few more minutes eyes roaming around the room, though still a bit unfocused.

"Is it blurry?" Whiskey asked, having stayed nearby in case the brothers needed her. The other nurses were running in and out, sometimes with a crewmember who had gotten injured.

"Yeah, I can't make anything out but I can see shapes." Ace said, squinting in an attempt at getting a clearer image, but it didn't help. Beside him, Sabo's brows furrowed.

'I think the noise is gone, or at least its quieter now. My ears might just be ringing though." Sabo said, the noise he had been hearing much quieter now then it had been before. Luffy told Whiskey this and she nodded.

"Do you want me to remove the patches or do you think we should wait just in case?" She asked, feeling it was better if Sabo decided himself. He was the one who could hear the noises after all. Luffy relayed the nurses' words to Sabo and then Sabo's words to Whiskey.

"He says you can take them off, the noise is getting quieter again," Luffy said.

"It sounds like the battles over too," Izo noted, realizing that the deck was growing quiet. Whiskey took off Sabo's patches and the blonde sat, assessing the noise for a minute.

"The noise is gone, but my ears are still ringing a bit. I can hear stuff again but it sounds muffled." Sabo said, his voice a little louder then he intended due to the fact that he couldn't hear normally yet. Whiskey took that as a good sign and started checking the blonde's ears again, looking for any sign that the loud noise had permanently damaged his ears.

"Everything looks alright, but as I said with Ace, your hearing might not be the same as it was at first. It'll probably sound muffled for a while. I don't know how long it will take with your enhanced hearing, but it should sound clearer eventually. Hopefully by the end of the day at the latest." Whiskey said, Sabo nodding in understanding.

"Ace, can you follow this light?" Whiskey asked, holding a tiny flashlight in front of Aces eyes and moving it side to side. Ace did as told, and it seemed Whiskey liked whatever she saw because she smiled a bit.

"It looks like you're in the clear as well, Ace. Everythings looking good and your eyesight should come back just fine. However, if anything weird happens, tell me." Whiskey said, the eldest nodding. Just as the nurse finished examining Aces eyes, the infirmary door opened, not for the first time, but instead of a nurse coming in with an injured crewmember, it was Haruta.

"Hey guys, I came to tell you the fights over," Haruta said as he walked over to the bed they were all sitting at.

"How'd it go?" Izo asked curiously, hands hidden inside his kimono.

"They weren't all that difficult to take down. The ship had some weird propeller on it which explains how they got here so fast, but other than that there wasn't anything we couldn't handle." Haruta said with a shrug, the only sign that he'd been in a fight being the sprouting bruise that was starting to show on his hand.

"Did you find out how they knew the brothers were here?" Izo asked, everyone wanting to know the answer to that question.

"We didn't get much. Once the marine Captain realized that they weren't going to win against us he tried to run, but Jozu got to him first. We didn't get much out of him, but he did spill that the marines know the Whitebeards were on the island when the facility got destroyed and they know that the brothers had help in getting the children out so they just went after us because they're assuming we have the children. Apparently, we were the only outside ship to both arrive and leave within the time frame that the children disappeared from the island." Haruta explained, everyone taking in his words silently.

"But they don't know who we are?" Sabo asked for clarification. Haruta shrugged.

"We don't think so. The marine never called you three by name, but he did use your numbers when he tried to get us to hand you over. If they do know your names they don't know what you look like because they kept fighting as if you were somewhere on deck. I swear, marines aren't always the brightest." Haruta said with a sigh and a shake of his head. It amazed him sometimes how blinded the marines could get when they thought they were fighting for 'justice'.

"I guess they realized no one was reacting to their flash bang like they expected, and once they realized that they all tried running away," Haruta finished.

"It's a good thing we got you here when we did or else they definitely would have known who you were," Izo said, the brothers nodding their agreement. It was relieving to know that their identities were still safe for now, but how much longer would that last? The marines were determined to both find and recapture them, so it was only a matter of time until they were found out.

"So how are you three holding up? It looks like you've got your hearing back Sabo." Haruta said, realizing Sabo had been responding, though his voice was a bit louder then he expected it to be for how quiet the infirmary was at the moment.

"We're all good. The sound stopped a few minutes ago but my ears are still ringing and everything's muffled. Ace's eyesight is slowly coming back and he can only see blurry shapes right now and Luffy's able to breathe without his nose bothering him too much now." Sabo explained.

"We figured out that the noise was coming from a tiny machine that they had. We destroyed it and got rid of the flashbang too." Haruta said.

"Well, you three should be ok to leave. Obviously Ace is going to need some help getting around until his vision returns completely, but other than that you're all set." Whiskey said. The brothers thanked her as she left to go help with everyone else who had come in injured from the fight.

"You wanna go lay down?" Sabo asked Ace since he couldn't see anything.

"Yeah, sure." Ace said with a bit of a frustrated sigh, eyes glancing around the room again, but it was still just a blur to him. Sabo nodded, standing up and smiling to Whiskey.

"Thank you for the help Whiskey." He said as Luffy and Ace stood as well, Sabo steadying their impaired brother.

"Its no problem. Remember, any issues, come right back." Whiskey said, the brothers all nodding and saying goodbye. Izo and Haruta left with the brothers, the two of them speaking amongst themselves.

They were out on deck within a few seconds, everyone still cleaning up after the battle. The commanders were going around and helping those who needed it and instructing others on what to do. Whitebeard sat in his chair, overseeing it all, and when he spotted them he gave them a smile and a nod, which Sabo returned seeing as Ace couldn't see it and Luffy was more focused on the smell that still semi lingered out on the deck. Izo and Haruta left them with their own goodbyes as they headed to Whitebeard while the brothers continued heading to their room. No one stopped them, though a few did call out that they were glad they were ok, and the brothers continued on without being impeded.

When they reached their room they all went in, Sabo guiding Ace to his bed and helped him sit down. They all let out a collective sigh of exhaustion and relief.

"Is there going to be a day where we can just relax?" Sabo asked as he moved to lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.

"Relaxing would be boring. At least we're having adventures!" Luffy said, looking on the bright side of things like he always used to. Sabo and Ace smiled at that.

"Yeah, what are you Sabo, an old man? Can't handle a little adventure?" Ace teased, looking where he knew the blondes general direction was.

"I think you and I have a much different definition of the words 'A little adventure' Ace. I'd rather have the adventure without all the stress involved with it." Sabo said, knowing that was probably never going to happen. Stress seemed to be something that would follow the brothers as long as they breathed.

"But that's the fun part!" Luffy said with a bright smile, Ace nodding in agreement while Sabo rolled his eyes.

"Of course it is. Now both of you shush, I want to get at least a little rest before lunch." Sabo said, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the dull ring that he still heard. Ace and Luffy both frowned but decided rest would probably be for the best, the two of them laying down as well.

"Fine, but only because I can't do anything else right now." Ace said, referring to his lack of sight.

Sabo scoffed but didn't respond, the three of them drifting off to sleep quickly.


	68. Getting Help

When the brothers woke up from their nap it was because of a knock on their door. Sabo was the first to wake up, his brothers groaning and burying their faces further in the pillows rather than getting up to answer the door. Sabo grumbled in annoyance at having to be the one to get up, but did it none the less, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he walked up to the door. After a quick yawn, he pulled it open, finding Marco standing there.

"Hey, Marco, what's up?" Sabo greeted, blinking a few times, trying to wake up.

"Lunch is done and Whiskey wanted me to come check up on you guys to make sure you're doing alright, yoi," Marco said, causing Sabo to remember the events that had happened earlier. He quickly realized that the ringing in his ears were gone, and as far as he could tell, it was back to normal.

"My hearings back to normal now I think and Luffy's good too. I don't know about Ace. Hey, Ace!" Sabo said, turning to look back into the room to shout at the oldest.

"Hm?" Ace hummed, still not opening his eyes.

"Can you see yet?" Sabo asked, annoyed by his brothers' lack of physical response. Ace groaned, obviously not wanting to open his eyes to find out, but sat up regardless, blinking open his eyes slowly and looking around. His eyebrows furrowed and he blinked a few times before nodding.

"Yeah, s'kinda blurry still, but 'm good." Ace managed to get out, his words slurring slightly. Sabo nodded, turning back to Marco and smiling, feeling more awake now.

"Seems Ace is better too. Thanks for waking us up, we'll be out for lunch in a minute." Sabo told Marco, to which the commander nodded, giving a quick goodbye before he left. Closing the door, Sabo turned, watching Ace as he rubbed his eyes, nudging Luffy awake as he did.

"Food." Ace mumbled, making Luffy shoot up in bed, looking around.

"Food? Where?" Luffy asked, sniffing the air for the telltale smell.

"Where it always is Luffy, the galley. Wake up first though." Sabo said, shaking his head at his brothers' one-track mind.

The trio all took some time to wake up before they headed out for lunch. Seeing as there was time for everyone to recover from the battle, more people stopped them on their way to the galley, wondering if they were alright after everything that had happened. Sabo would tell them they were, thanking them for their concern as he did before they continued walking on.

Lunch was a much more peaceful event compared to the beginning of their day, even though Teach was still nearby. He was easy to ignore, especially seeing as they were with the commanders and Whitebeard, people who they trusted wouldn't let Teach do anything horrible.

After lunch, there wasn't anything nearly as eventful as their morning had been, which was fine with the brothers. It was a slow day, and before they knew it, they were heading off to bed, excited for the island they were going to reach the next day.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Come on, come on, I wanna hear about the island!" Luffy said, pulling Ace and Sabo by the hands out to the deck. They had just finished breakfast, making sure that someone else was done with them at the same time, and Luffy was eager to hear about the island they were about to reach. It was still a while away so Luffy wouldn't be able to see it clearly himself, but that was where Ace came in.

"Alright, alright, calm down Luffy, we're coming." Ace said, though he was smiling, both he and Sabo happy to see Luffy looking as energetic and outgoing as he used to be. Being apart of the Whitebeards had definitely helped all of them get passed their trauma. That wasn't to say that they were in the clear, because that just wouldn't be true, but more and more, their original personalities were showing. No longer were they as timid as they had been after the facility, they weren't as cautious or introverted. Now they were beginning to trust those they were surrounded by, making it easier to smile, to laugh, to relax.

It was a welcomed change.

"Is it big? Is there a forest? Or a town? Or animals?" Luffy questioned as they reached the railing, the youngest of the trio looking at Ace expectantly for answers to his questions. Ace looked across the ocean, finding the island they were heading towards and taking in as many details as he could see.

"It's pretty big and there's some forest from what I can see. It does have a big town, but I don't know about animals, I cant see into the forest, the houses are in the way." Ace said, taking in all the details he knew Luffy would want to know about.

"The trees are tall and it looks like the villagers are getting ready for something. There's a bunch of boxes and stuff hanging around and everyone looks like they're decorating the town." Ace continued, Luffy beaming at his side as he stared at the island that they were growing ever so slowly closer to.

"Is it a party?!" Luffy asked excitedly, nearly bouncing in place. Sabo smiled fondly at his brothers' excitement, noticing that Blamenco was watching as well, a smile on his face too.

"Don't know but it sure does look like it. They have colorful flags out and banners that they're hanging throughout the town." Ace said with a shrug, watching the civilians as they worked to decorate their town.

"Wow! Do you think we could go to the party?" Luffy asked, looking to Sabo who normally dictated whether something was a good idea or not. The blonde merely shrugged.

"Who knows Lu, we don't even know what the party's for. We'll just have to wait and see." Sabo said, calming the overly excited teen down a bit. It didn't take long for Ace to describe everything he could see on the island to Luffy, and soon enough the three were sitting in silence, left with nothing to do for the meantime.

They were content to sit there for a while until Sabo suddenly remembered the talk he had had with Whiskey after they'd been stuck in their nightmares.

After everything that had happened with the brothers getting stuck, the nurse was very obviously worried for the brothers. When Sabo returned to speak to her alone while Ace and Luffy sat out on the deck, she brought up that she had a feeling the brothers suffered from PTSD, which Sabo was inclined to agree with.

Whiskey continued on to say that she knew the brothers still weren't comfortable around nurses, which she understood, but she wanted to help them manage their fears and anxieties. She suggested that the brothers come in and she could give them ideas on how they could manage, and hopefully help, their PTSD, but that involved going and talking to her about it, which also meant Sabo had to convince Ace and Luffy to go do it.

Sure, compared to how they first were, the brothers were much more comfortable around nurses, but compared to a normal person, they were miles away from ok. They knew this, which was why something like this would be difficult for them.

Sabo wanted to get better, he wanted to get over the trauma that was the facility, and he knew it wouldn't be easy. It would involve doing things he most definitely didn't want to do, however, and that was the problem; taking those steps to get better, no matter how much he didn't want to do it.

So he may as well just bring it up already and see how it goes, because the first step is always the hardest.

"Ace, Luffy," Sabo managed to finally say. Luffy had known something was going on with Sabo because his calm, peaceful feelings had quickly morphed into a nervous worry within seconds, but Luffy hadn't mentioned it, knowing Sabo would say something if it was an issue, so it didn't surprise him that the blonde was talking now.

"Yeah?" Ace asked, confused. He could recognize the turmoil on his brothers face and he wondered what had happened to cause it.

"Remember when I talked to Whiskey? After we were all stuck?" Sabo started slowly, still unsure how he felt about saying this. Ace frowned, his mind thinking the worst while Luffy continued watching carefully, keeping close attention on his brothers' emotions as he spoke.

"Yeah. She didn't do anything did she?" Ace asked tone lowering, no doubt ready to go find a boat and leave if that was the case. Whitebeards now or not, if the nurses turned out to be like the doctors at the facility then he wouldn't hesitate to leave.

"No, no, she didn't do anything. It's just... we were talking, about how we have nightmares and things, and she mentioned that she suspected we have PTSD," Sabo trailed off here, knowing Luffy didn't know what that meant and while Ace probably had an idea, he probably wasn't too sure about what it meant either.

"P-T-S-D? Does it mean we're sick?" Luffy asked slowly, starting to become a bit worried now. He couldn't be sick, he felt fine!

"No- well, sort of. Its a mental illness, like our brain is sick." Sabo said, still being careful how he phrased things. Ace frowned more at this while Luffy tried comprehending Sabo's words.

"People get PTSD after they've been through something traumatic and it causes you to have things like nightmares and flashbacks back to whatever the trauma was, among other things. I had a feeling we had it before she mentioned it, but we were talking and she said she could try and help us overcome it, or at least manage it." Sabo said, leaning on the railing and watching the ocean below him.

"We don't need a nurses help." Ace grumbled, arms crossed as he said the words Sabo predicted he would.

"Normally, I'd agree with you Ace, but this isn't something I know how to help, and the only ones who do know are the nurses. If we want to get better, we have to get their help." Sabo said gently, even though he was still battling with the idea of asking the nurses for help over something so personal to them. They didn't like the fact that they were constantly plagued with nightmares, they didn't like that they couldn't stand walking in big crowds of people, worried that one of them would pull out a needle on them or see their numbers, and they most certainly didn't like that people who were meant to help them, people who were meant to keep you alive, were people they feared the most.

It only ever is one bad apple that ruins the whole bunch after all.

"We're fine. So what, the nightmares are bad, we can handle them. We have been this long." Ace said with a shrug. Luffy still looked uncertain, like he was having his own thoughts on this subject, but Sabo couldn't decipher whether they were good thoughts or not.

"I don't want to just handle them though. I want to be able to go to sleep and not dread the fact that I'm going to wake up terrified. I want to be able to go to a nurse and not think they'll pin us down and pull out their needles. I want to be normal, or as normal as possible after whats happened." Sabo said, his tone of voice becoming almost desperate as he spoke. Ace was silent, thinking over his brothers' words carefully while Luffy shifted nervously beside him.

"If all that comes out of this is I get nightmares every other day rather than every night, I'll be happy. Even if nothing comes of it, I'll still be glad because at least I tried." Sabo said, finishing with a sigh. It was silent amongst them now. The rest of the crew was milling around them, no one stopping to have a conversation with them, no one bothering their tense conversation. The background noise was almost soothing, but it was off-putting at the same time, to be having such a personal conversation out in the open.

Just a week ago, they would have never done this, not even by using their silent language. Hell, this wouldn't have even been a topic they would have considered, but the longer they stayed, the more they got to know everyone, the more trustworthy the nurses became to them, and the easier it all was.

"... Do we have to get a shot?" Luffy asked, not having any idea what they would have to do to help PTSD. The youngest agreed with Sabo because he didn't enjoy having nightmares every night, but if he had to get a shot to stop them then he wasn't going to.

"No, you don't need to get a shot Lu," Sabo said with a gentle smile. Luffy looked down at the ocean for a second, frowning deeply in thought.

"I wanna try too then. I don't like nightmares, they're scary and they wake me up and they wake you guys up." Luffy said softly, and even Ace seemed to be coming around if his face was anything to go on.

"Why don't we just go and talk to Whiskey? Before we get to the island? We can ask her what we would have to do, and if we don't like it we don't have to listen." Sabo suggested. Luffy nodded at that idea, the two of them turning to look at Ace who was still frowning, shifting his weight nervously.

"Yeah, fine. Why do I get the feeling you two will always outnumber me on these things?" Ace asked with a sigh, thinking back to how many times his brothers both agreed to do something he didn't want to do, like agreeing to stay with the Whitebeards indefinitely.

"We wouldn't have to outnumber you if you weren't so stubborn," Sabo said with a good-natured smile, pushing himself off of the railing and placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I'm not stubborn, I'm cautious." Ace said with a glare, though there was no heat behind it.

"Cautious. Right. And my names Rover." Sabo said with a bit of an eye roll. Luffy watched in confusion.

"No, it's not." He said, wondering why Sabo called himself Rover all of a sudden.

"Exactly. Now come on, maybe we'll be at the island by the time we're done talking to Whiskey." Sabo said, glancing back to the horizon and noticing that the island was now much more visible to him then it had been previously. It wouldn't be much longer until they were docking.

"Fine, whatever. This better work." Ace said with a huff, he and Luffy also pushing off against the railing and following Sabo, the three heading back towards the dreaded infirmary that they wanted to avoid.

Sabo said nothing in response to Aces words, instead deciding that silence was better. It wasn't a long walk to the infirmary, and Whiskey was easy to find, so when the brothers walked in they found her within seconds, asking her if they could go talk in her office. She agreed and told them to head there ahead of her seeing as she had something to take care of first, so they left, going straight to the office that was nearby and entering.

Like the last time they were in there, Ace stood while Luffy and Sabo sat in the two chairs facing the desk. It didn't take too long for Whiskey to join them, but it was long enough for the brothers to stew in their nervousness and anxieties, so when she finally joined them all three of them were fidgeting and tapping their feet or fingers nervously.

"Sorry, sorry, there was still some things to take care of after the attack yesterday." Whiskey apologized as she put some papers away in the cabinets before sitting at her desk, giving the brothers her attention.

"No, it's alright, we didn't mind waiting," Sabo said with a tight smile.

"Well, what was it you wanted to talk about?" The nurse asked, folding her hands on the table. She, of course, had an idea as to what they wanted, but she was going to wait and see if it was correct or not.

"We were discussing what you and I talked about the other day, about the PTSD and stuff," Sabo said, Whiskey nodding along in understanding.

"And we decided that we wanted to try and overcome our... problems," Sabo said, trying to figure out the best way to phrase the words.

"I understand. I imagine this is a very difficult topic for you three, especially seeing as one of the problems is medical personnel in general, so I'm glad you three came to this decision. I just want you to know, mental illness is difficult to combat, and sometimes there's no helping it, only managing it. Hopefully, that won't be the case here." She said, the three nodding along as she spoke. She watched them for a second before shuffling a few papers around on her desk.

"Well, I'm going to need to speak with the three of you to figure out the best way to help you all. Treatments are different for everyone, and symptoms and triggers could be different as well. This way I can figure out what the best course of action would be to take. Of course, I know that one of the issues is me, so this could be a bit difficult to figure out." She said, knowing that the brothers weren't comfortable around her, so asking them to speak to her alone was already asking a lot.

The brothers seemed to figure this out as well, all three of them shifting once more in their seats and giving each other glances.

"If this is something you three do want to go through with, just know that anything we speak of will be kept between us. I will not tell anyone, not even Oyaji, not unless you want me to." She continued to say, wanting them to know everything, if only to help calm them a bit.

"Again, I know this will be difficult for you three, and I only want to help, but if you decide you cant do it because you don't want to speak with me alone, then I at least have a suggestion that you could try that doesn't involve seeing me," Whiskey said, intriguing the three. They hadn't thought they would be able to help themselves without the nurse and the thought that they could interested them.

"It's good timing too. On the island we're heading to, you three should go and get yourselves a journal you can write in. I do know that you three have issues with nightmares, and one method that is used to combat nightmares is to write a new ending. Basically, after waking up from a nightmare, get your journal and write a different ending to that nightmare. For example, if I dreamt I was being chased and got caught when I woke up I would change the ending of the nightmare and instead write that I was being chased but I got away safely and I ended up ok." Whiskey explained, the three following along easily.

"It won't work immediately, and there's a chance it will never work, but its something you could try if you don't want to see me." She finished, leaving the brothers to their thoughts.

"Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?" She asked, wanting the brothers to be comfortable, wanting them to know she only wanted to help, and maybe if she gave them as much information on this as possible, they would be more inclined to get that help.

"If we do end up talking to you, what would happen next?" Ace asked almost hesitantly, like he didn't want to ask in the first place. She smiled as warmly as possible, knowing this was difficult for the brothers.

"Well, that'll depend. After we speak privately I'll discuss different options we could try to help you three. For example, one of you might benefit more from therapy where we talk about what's happened, while another might benefit more from cognitive processing therapy, where I'll help teach you how to change any upsetting thoughts and feelings you might have had since the trauma. Everyone's different, so its only natural that the treatments would be different." Whiskey said.

"Can we stop if we don't like it?" Luffy asked. The youngest was very particular about his freedoms, as were his brothers, so if something stopped him from having that freedom he wouldn't want to get involved with it.

"Of course. If you find that you don't like it, or you don't want to continue for whatever reason, you can stop. No questions asked." Whiskey assured, easing the brothers. The three glanced at each other for another minute, no silent language necessary for them to know that all of them were deeply considering taking the nurse up on her offer. It sounded like it was something they could benefit from, and they really did want the help, but Whiskey had pegged that one of their issues was talking to her which made all of this that much harder for them.

"When we talk... where would we do it?" Sabo asked, wanting to know if it would be in this office. Talking to the nurse with all of his brothers was easier than without them, especially in such a small, enclosed room.

"I've thought about that. I think it's safe to assume you three don't like the idea of us talking in here," She began, the brothers all shaking their heads at the thought.

"So I came up with an idea of where we could go instead. I know you all like being out on deck so I was thinking that I could ask Oyaji if we could use a section of the deck and we could talk there instead." Whiskey suggested, the brothers finding that they liked the thought of that much better then they did sitting in here with the nurse.

'Want to do it?' Sabo asked his brothers, wanting their thoughts on the subjects before he agreed or rejected anything. Ace and Luffy thought about it another second before they nodded, both still a bit hesitant. With the confirmation he needed, Sabo turned back to face the nurse.

"I think we'll do it." The blonde finally conceded, Whiskeys face lighting up happily at the words.

"Fantastic. I'm happy you three decided to let me try and help you. We don't have to have your talks today seeing as we're about to dock. We can have it once we leave the island, however, I still recommend the three of you get journals while we're here, they could really help." Whiskey said. The brothers nodded along, still feeling a bit jittery with the adrenaline that came with making such a big decision, and soon after they were wrapping up, Sabo thanking the head nurse and the brothers leaving swiftly, ready to enjoy the island as much as they could in an attempt to avoid the thoughts of what was to come.

Being out on deck almost immediately calmed the three down, the sense of familiarity washing over them and soothing their jumping nerves. After a month of being with the Whitebeards the brothers had become accustomed to the mass amount of pirates constantly moving and working around the deck, and it almost became a comforting sight to watch it happen. When they had first gotten to the Whitebeards, it had been the complete opposite, the sight of the hundreds of pirates terrifying them, but now it was peaceful.

Looking over the railing they saw that the island was only a few minutes away, the pirates getting ready to dock. They hadn't realized just how long their conversation with Whiskey had been, so it was a shock to see the island much closer then they remembered it to be.

"Adventure!" Luffy cheered happily, any and all thoughts of their talk with Whiskey leaving his mind at the prospect of having another island adventure. Ace and Sabo both smiled at the ease with which Luffy shifted gears, finding that he was slowly turning back into the Luffy they once knew.

It was still a long ways off from the original though, and they both wondered if they would ever see Luffy as the same hyperactive carefree boy that he once was.

"Sorry Luffy, but from the sounds of it the festivals tomorrow. They're only setting it up today." Sabo said, listening in easily to the conversations happening on the island. This made Luffy pout, and looking to the eldest, Sabo saw that Ace was pouting too.

"Oh come on, that doesn't mean we can't still have fun," Sabo said, hitting Aces arm playfully. They both dropped their pouts, looking at Sabo with confused expressions. Normally the blonde wanted to lay low, they all did, so what could he be suggesting they do to have fun on an island they knew nothing about?

Reading the expressions easily, Sabo rolled his eyes and shook his head, sighing a bit.

"Well, first we have to get journals like Whiskey said. After we get those and bring them here we can go and explore a bit. We might even be able to spar too if we can find a good spot." Sabo said with a smile. Immediately, smiles lit up on his brothers' faces, all of them excited at the prospect of getting a good spar in. Fighting the marines was fun and all, but they weren't enough of a challenge for them. Not after everything they've been through.

"Yay! Sparring!" Luffy cheered, raising his fists in the air happily.

"Hey, you three!" A voice greeted, the brothers all turning to see who it belonged to. Haruta, who was being closely followed by Izo, walked up to them, waving with a smile on his face.

"Hello, how are you two today?" Sabo asked politely, returning the smiles sent his way.

"Pretty good. We overheard you talking about a festival." Haruta said, Izo nodding along beside him.

"Yes, Ace saw what looked like the villagers setting up for a festival and I overheard them talking about it taking place tomorrow," Sabo said.

"I wanted it to be today," Luffy said, his pout back at the reminder that he wouldn't be able to go to the festival today.

"We'll still be here tomorrow, you can go then," Izo assured, making Luffy smile again, excitement filling him at the thought.

"I didn't know there was supposed to be a festival here so soon. Normally this island has them more near the end of the year." Haruta said with a pondering look.

"You guys dock here a lot?" Ace asked. Haruta nodded, his smile returning.

"Yeah, whenever we're around really. Since they're so close to the last island it's a good place to restock and it allows us to split how much we need between two islands rather than buy out the entire store of one island." Haruta said, referencing just how much it took to feed and supply the entirety of the Moby Dick.

"Which is why it's strange for them to be having a festival," Izo said, his hands hidden in his sleeves.

"Maybe they just wanted to throw a party," Luffy said, still excited about the prospect of a festival. He hadn't ever really been to any festivals, only the new years festivals that his village used to throw, but even then they weren't that big or grand. Besides, the last time he had been at that festival was almost a decade ago.

"Maybe. In any case, Marco's going to be heading onto the island with you again. We should be docking within the next few minutes, so if you want to go wait with him, he's near the helm." Izo informed, having gotten the information from Whitebeard.

"Thanks for telling us, we'll head there now," Sabo said, all of them bidding goodbye to the two Commanders before seeking out Marco. They didn't mind going with the man every time they went onto an island, it made them feel safer. When the entirety of the Marines were after you just because of something they'd forced you to be apart of, it made them feel better about it to have the first commander of the Whitebeard pirates walk with them whenever they went out.

"Marco!" Luffy cheered, obviously feeling more comfortable around the man as he nearly skipped over to him, a bright smile on his face.

Maybe it was the mixture of an island, a festival, and sparring that made him so outgoing and excited all of a sudden. Whatever it was, it made Ace and Sabo feel nostalgic for the Luffy that they had grown up with in the jungle. The one that would walk up to obviously dangerous people and ask them if they could poop. The one who would swing between trees like the monkey his name signified and laugh louder than the tiger that chased him could roar. The one who would run out of Dadans hut with them to get out of doing chores that the crazy woman should have never expected them to finish, or even start.

Ace and Sabo both mentally cursed the facility for changing Luffy so drastically.

"Hello, Luffy. Ace, Sabo, yoi." Marco greeted with a smile of his own.

"We heard you'll be heading out with us again," Sabo said.

"I will be. Do you three have any ideas of what you'd like to do?" Marco asked. Sabo nodded, but was stopped from answering by Luffy who blurted out before anyone could stop him.

"We're gonna spar!" Luffy cheered happily, and Sabo was beginning to think that maybe Luffy had more pent up energy then they thought he did. It was a good thing they were heading out to spar. Maybe it would help him expel that excess of energy he seemed to have all of a sudden.

"Yes, Luffy, we'll spar, but first we need to go shopping, remember?" Sabo said with a raised eyebrow, reminding the youngest of what they'd talked to Whiskey about.

"Oh, right," Luffy said, mellowing a bit, but his smile was still on his face.

"Shopping? Do you need something, yoi?" Marco asked, looking over at the crew that was now getting ready to disembark. Sabo hesitated a bit, not sure how to quite explain what they were getting.

"Well, yes. Whiskey recommended we get journals. She said they could help us." Sabo said with a shrug, hoping Marco wouldn't question them more on the subject. It was hard enough to talk to Whiskey about it.

"Good idea. I know a place you could get some." Marco said, and Ace and Sabo both felt relieved he didn't pry anymore.

"Ne, Ace, do you think we can find cool journals? Like one with a ship on it! Oh! Or one made of bronze! That'd be pretty cool!" Luffy said, tugging on Aces arm. The oldest rolled his eyes but smiled.

"I don't know Lu, but I'll keep an eye out for the cool ones." Ace assured, Luffy cheering again before he moved closer to the railing to watch the crew finish up everything.

"What's gotten into him?" Ace asked Sabo with a raised eyebrow of his own. Sabo shrugged while Marco watched the two brothers. The commander had noticed Luffys hyperactivity but hadn't mentioned it, hoping it meant the youngest was becoming more comfortable around them.

"I don't know. He seemed normal earlier until we came out on deck. Maybe he's just unusually happy about the island?" Sabo asked. Ace looked skeptical about that, turning to look at Luffy's back for a minute.

"Oi, Lu, are you taking in too much happiness again?" Ace asked, and Sabo wondered how that would be the case. Sure, the pirates may be excited about the island too, but wasn't Luffy limiting the amount he took in from the pirates just for that reason?

"What? No, I don't think so, I stopped taking so much from everyone cause it made me too hyper, remember?" Luffy said, blinking slowly a few times in thought. It went quiet a moment as Luffy made a look of concentration, trying to figure out just how much happiness he was filtering in.

Just as he thought, the amount he was taking in from the pirates wasn't enough to overload him, but as he noticed that, he also noticed that he was taking in a lot of happiness and excitement from somewhere else.

"Oh, it's not the pirates. Sorry, I took in too much from the people on the island. They're really excited for the festival." Luffy said, his smile returning as if nothing was wrong.

"You can feel their emotions?" Sabo asked in slight amazement. Sure, they were docked at the island now, but the furthest Luffy had usually been able to feel was anyone on the ship, or if someone was in the ocean right beside the ship. Last they checked, he shouldn't have been able to feel the emotions of people in the town.

"I guess so. I didn't notice before. Sorry!" Luffy said, before turning to watch the crew again.

"Was he not able to do that previously?" Marco asked curiously, watching the entire interaction with interest.

"No, normally he could only feel anyone on the ship. The furthest it went was anyone beside the ship in the ocean, but not much further than that." Sabo said, voice low in thought.

"Oh! They're done! Can we go now?! Please?!" Luffy begged as he skipped back over to his brothers, pulling on their hands and interrupting their discussion.

"We have to wait until Marcos done, Luffy." Ace said, ruffling his brother's hair. Luffy turned his wide, begging eyes to Marco who smiled again, nodding.

"We can go now, I've got the money for your journals with me, and then we can go to the forest so you can spar, yoi," Marco said, patting his side where a bag hung from his waist.

"Yes! Come on, I wanna get the coolest journal, and then I cant wait to spar!" Luffy cheered, dragging his brothers off the ship, Marco following close behind.

The group went to the shop Marco recommended, and true to his word there was plenty of journals for the brothers to choose from. Luffy ended up getting the red leather journal with a ship and wave pattern embossed on the bottom corner of it, Ace got a black leather journal with a spade embossed on the front of it, and Sabo got a regular brown leather journal with a compass embossed on the front of it. All three had matching leather strings around them to keep them closed.

Sabo also made sure to get some pens for their room, as well as a few books that he was going to make Ace and Luffy read so they could freshen up on their reading skills.

Happy with their purchases they went back to the Moby where they dropped their things off in their room before meeting Marco at the dock again, following him to the forest. Luffy chattered happily, and soon they were in a clearing that was perfect for sparring. Marco watched and even gave a few tips and pointers as they fought to help improve their skills, and soon the sun was setting.

Overall, it had definitely been a good day, one the brothers would probably remember as one of the only peaceful days they ever seemed to get.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

As the man walked along the streets of the village and began nearing the dock, he noticed a group of pirates heading back to their ship. Whitebeards. He knew better than to mess with them without good reason or back-up, so he opted to watch the four from afar, making sure they didn't do anything that would endanger the lives of the citizens here.

He had been there when the ship first docked and had watched the pirates mill around throughout their town restocking. He sneered at the thought of the savages and was about to turn away when he saw something.

Three of the pirates were wearing wristbands, which wasn't all that unusual seeing as it held the Whitebeard mark on it, but one of them was pulled up a bit too far, and underneath it, he was sure that there was something achingly familiar hiding there.

Immediately, he pulled out his Kameko and steadied the shot on the teen's wrist, taking a few shots of it. He kept the camera out, noticing now that the three with the wristbands were all in their teens, the youngest of them barely looking to be in his teens at all.

Swallowing dryly, he refocused his attention to their wrists, taking a few more shots of the coverings they wore on them. He was about to put the camera down when the group stepped onboard the infamous Moby Dick but paused once again when he watched each of the teens begin taking their bands off.

Right there, in clear view of his Kameko, were three numbers that he, and everyone else, had been on the lookout for.

Despite the lack of a face to go with the numbers, the man took as many pictures of the numbers as he could before letting out the breath he had been holding.

After all this time, he was the one to find the infamous demon trio.

He was sure to get a promotion after this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Uh-oh, someones onto the brothers! After all this time, the brothers are finally going to be found out. How it happens though, is still to be seen.
> 
> In lighter news, next chapter will be the brothers relaxing and having fun at the festival. They deserve it after all after everything I've put them through, and have yet to put them through. Also, the trio are finally getting help from Whiskey! They've come so far after all this time and were able to go to the nurse for help which is something they would have never thought they could do when they first arrived on the Moby. It just goes to show how much progress they've made towards healing.
> 
> Luffys powers also seem to be getting stronger. The range he can feel emotions seems to have increased to the point that he felt the townspeople's emotions from the Moby, something he couldn't previously do. I treat his ability to feel emotions almost like observation haki. The more you train in it, the wider the range you can sense.


	69. Enjoying a Festival

"Fes-ti-val! Fes-ti-val! Fes-ti-val!" Luffy cheered, arms raising in time with his chant as he walked beside Ace and Sabo. Sabo rolled his eyes, though smiled fondly, and Ace was sharing Luffys excitement but lacked the chant and arm motions.

"Just remember Lu, we still have to be careful." Sabo reiterated as the trio made their way out onto the deck. Luffy nodded quickly, chant forgotten and arms falling back to his sides.

"I know. And don't let in too many good emotions." Luffy said, repeating the words Ace and Sabo had told him in their room.

"Exactly. Other than that, let's try to have some fun." Sabo said, feeling that a little fun was long deserved. Ace and Luffy grinned and nodded in unison as they reached Marco, their escort yet again. This time he was with Haruta and Izo, the two having asked if they could tag along so they could have a bit of fun as well to which the brothers saw no harm in and agreed.

"Ready to go?" Izo asked with a smile. Luffy cheered loudly again, fists high in the air once more.

"Yeah! I can't wait! Do you think they'll have meat? And balloons too! I saw a balloon once a looong time ago for a birthday back at our home island, before I met Ace and Sabo, and it was so colorful and it was floating too!" Luffy rambled to Haruta who listened diligently at his side while everyone else followed behind them.

"I don't know if its all the happy feelings or what, but Luffy's acting more... Luffy-like lately." Ace muttered, more to himself than anything.

"I was thinking the same thing," Sabo admitted, and while he was glad his brother was seeming to go back to normal, he knew that wasn't completely the case. There was still a lot Luffy _wasn't_ doing compared to everything he _was_ doing that seemed like his old self.

"More Luffy-like?" Izo asked, curious.

"Yeah, you know... loud, excited over anything, practically bouncing off the walls twenty-four-seven. That kind of thing." Ace said nonchalantly with a shrug. Sabo rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What Ace means to say is that Luffy used to be a lot more... excitable when we were younger. He didn't exactly have a lot of self-preservation and would always get himself into dangerous situations in the blink of an eye. I swear, you turned around for two seconds and he somehow managed to have half the jungle chasing him." Sabo said, pinching the bridge of his nose at the memories of having to fight off multiple predators just because Luffy thought it would be a good idea to pet them.

"I wouldn't have guessed, yoi," Marco said honestly because everything that he and everyone else on the Moby had seen said otherwise. Sure, ever since the brothers joined the three had clearly made an effort to be more open and talkative, and Luffy had been acting pretty cheerful recently, but that seemed more like a rare occurrence rather than the teen's normal behavior.

"Come on you guys, we're almost there!" Luffy said, turning to walk backward, smiling widely as he did. Behind him, the town was bustling excitedly, the sounds of laughter and chatter buzzing in the air. As they had seen briefly yesterday, there was an abundance of banners, balloons, and flags all hanging cheerfully, the biggest banner showing that this festival was meant to celebrate a good, early harvest that they'd recently had.

"We're coming Lu, don't worry," Sabo reassured. Pleased, Luffy turned to face forward again, beginning his conversation with Haruta again as if it hadn't stopped.

Conversation amongst the rest of the group ceased, only because they were suddenly being engulfed in the crowd of people all attempting to enjoy the festival that spanned the streets. Everywhere they looked they could see stalls selling food or trinkets, people handing out flowers, musicians, dancers, and even a magician. Ace and Sabo looked around in awe, neither of them ever having been to an event like this before.

Luffy had grown up for a short time in the village before meeting the two, so he'd been to a few festivals and parties- though they were a lot more scaled back than this one- but Ace had grown up with the bandits and in the jungle.

It wasn't like the Tiger Lord was throwing festivals for good catches.

Sabo, on the other hand, had grown up for a short time in an actual town, unlike Ace. However, it was filled with nobles who thought throwing festivals like this was too mundane and made them look like the peasants outside their precious walls. Needless to say, the only parties Sabo ever attended were boring and filled with stuck-up nobles who only bragged about how much wealthier they were than someone else.

This, however, was completely different from all of their past experiences, and it was amazing.

"We have to get food first! Oh, look Ace, there's a magician! Do you think they can make meat appear out of nowhere?! Sabo, look over there, that balloon is so big! How do you think it hasn't popped yet? Ne, can I go pop-"

"No Luffy, you cant pop the balloon," Sabo said, steering the young teen's eyes away from the balloon by giving him a kebab Ace had gotten during Luffy's rambling.

"Oh, thanks, Sabo!" Luffy said, eating the whole thing in one bite. The Commanders watched in amusement as the brothers continued on this way, Luffy chattering excitedly and pointing things out for them while Ace and Sabo curbed him from causing any trouble.

"They're a natural at keeping him focused and out of trouble," Izo noted as Ace once again kept Luffy from running off to do something stupid.

"If what Sabo said earlier is true, then they've had lots of practice," Marco replied, arms crossed as he followed the brothers closely, not wanting them to get lost.

"What are you talking about?" Haruta asked, having been talking to Luffy earlier and not hearing the earlier conversation.

"Ah, Ace and Sabo were just telling us that Luffy seems to be acting more like his old self lately. Apparently, he was quite a wild child and caused trouble easily." Izo said, noting out of the corner of his eye that Sabo had once again stopped Luffy from stealing food from a stall, making him go back and pay, as well as apologize.

"Really? I would have never guessed." Haruta murmured, thinking back to how Luffy normally acted around them and trying to compare it to the Luffy he was seeing now.

"Neither would I, yoi. It seems the facility did more damage then we thought." Marco said, the three of them going silent after the comment. Mentioning the dreaded place brought up bad feelings in all that had heard the brothers' story, but they could only imagine what it would be like to actually have to go through everything they did.

"Well, we just need to show them that we'll never be like those bastards," Haruta said determinedly. Izo and Marco both nodded their agreement.

"Izo, Marco, Ruta, come on, I wanna go see the people playing music!" Luffy cheered, giving them a bright smile that they felt fit the D.

"Yeah, come on guys, I wanna see them too!" Haruta cheered right along with Luffy, the two of them nearly running off together, Ace and Sabo hot on their heels.

"I swear, Ruta can be just as bad as Luffy supposedly can be," Izo muttered as he picked up his pace, trying to ignore the fact that the bottom of his kimono had just gotten splashed with water from a nearby puddle someone had stepped in.

"It seems we could probably learn a thing or two from Ace and Sabo," Marco said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"You've got that right." Izo sighed back.

The group went and enjoyed the musicians, as well as the magician once they realized how close together they were, and Luffy watched in amazement as the man began pulling a long, colorful, train of handkerchiefs from his sleeve.

"Ace, ne Ace, look! There's so many!" Luffy said in awe, tugging on Aces hand as he watched the cloth pile at the magician's feet.

"Pretty cool." Ace agreed, also watching in fascination, not having seen a magician before. The next trick was the classic pull a rabbit from a hat which further amazed Luffy. Sabo watched in amusement, enjoying how Luffy seemed to be letting himself go, letting himself enjoy the festival. There wasn't even a hint of the timid boy from the facility, but Sabo knew that would change once the excitement of the festival was gone.

For right now though, it was easy to forget everything they'd gone through. It was easy to just enjoy themselves for once.

"I think I can see some games over there Lu. Wanna go try 'em?" Sabo asked, getting an eager nod in response along with cheer. Sabo let Luffy drag Ace off, relying on his eldest brothers eyesight to guide them, while Sabo turned to the commanders who had been with them the whole day.

"You don't mind following us around?" Sabo asked, genuinely curious. He didn't imagine that following them as they chased after Luffy was much fun, but they _were_ at a festival.

"We don't mind. I haven't been able to really enjoy a festival in a while. Thatch normally gets his stupid self drunk and I have to take care of him which, might I add, is a hundred times worse then this could ever be." Izo said with a shake of his head.

"Thatch normally tries to drag me into his drinking contests so I normally stay on the ship, yoi. This is a nice change." Marco agreed with a shrug.

"Yeah, and I love festivals so I don't mind. Why don't I show you why Thatch swears I cheat in ring toss?" Haruta asked, waggling his eyebrows and smirking as the group followed after Ace and Luffy who were already at one of the many game stalls.

"Sounds like fun, Ruta," Sabo said with a smile, glad that he and his brothers weren't forcing the Commanders to do anything they deemed as boring or annoying. He didn't think that following them around and babysitting them would be all that fun, but they truly didn't seem to mind which put him at ease.

Once they caught up, Haruta did as promised and bought himself a few rounds of ring toss, winning with nearly perfect accuracy the entire time. Luffy was awed once again, and Ace was watching Haruta skeptically, trying to figure out just how he was so good at the game.

Needless to say, Sabo agreed with Thatch's thoughts that Haruta somehow cheated at the game.

The group moved throughout the game stalls, occasionally stopping to play a few before continuing on, and all too soon, the sun was beginning to set. It felt as if the day had flown by, but now they had to start heading back to the Moby.

The thought of that didn't scare the brothers like it used to though. It no longer brought a feeling of fear and anxiety to think about staying with the pirates on the Moby. Sure, they were still terrified of Teach, but with the efforts they made to avoid him and with help from the Commanders and Whitebeard himself, it was easy to pretend he wasn't on the ship. Even if his presence did set them on edge.

The walk back was a bit subdued, everyone tired from walking around all day long and having fun. It was a good subdued. Peaceful. One you felt after making good memories. The rest of the village seemed to feel the same way as they did as the loud, boisterous chatter and laughter slowly died down into a dull, peaceful quiet. There was still laughter and people talking, but it wasn't nearly as loud as before as people slowly began making their way back home.

As they walked, the brothers took their time taking in the festival, knowing it might be a while before they stumbled upon an island that was celebrating something again, and it was then that Sabo was bumped into.

It was an honest accident- neither Sabo nor the man had been paying attention- and the man was quick to apologize which Sabo waved off with an apology of his own.

However, he noticed that, when he'd been bumped into, his wristband had inched too far up, uncovering the numbers it hid ever so slightly. It was enough to make Sabo briefly panic as he readjusted the band, looking around quickly to make sure no one had seen. The only one looking at him was Luffy, who had noticed his sudden panic, but he just smiled reassuringly to his brother, calmer now after seeing no one looking his way. Luffy smiled back, turning to face forward again

Sabo quietly reprimanded himself, telling himself to be more careful, and left it at that. He and his brothers had had fun today, and he wanted to have more days like this.

Maybe, with Whiskeys help, they could have a lot more happy days like this.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

He had been looking around nearly all day now. First, he had waited by the infamous Moby Dick, careful not to be seen by any of the pirates, but as the village grew more and more animated due to the festival and more and more pirates bustled off their ship to join in, it grew harder for him to find any sign of the three he'd seen yesterday.

He didn't have much to go off of after all. All he knew was they all had wristbands, and they all had hats. If they weren't wearing their hats, he was screwed, because everyone looked the same in this crowd and there were quite a few people milling around that were wearing some kind of covering on their wrist, whether it be a wristband, a bracelet, watch, you name it.

He barely even knew their hair color, and it was nothing that would stand out either, two dark-haired teens and a blonde.

He sighed once again, ready to give up altogether. This seemed to be an impossible mission, but if he did it, he just knew he would get that promotion. Everyone had been looking for this demon trio, and if he was the one to find them, his days of working on this tiny, boring island would be gone.

He may even get a few soldiers of his own to command.

With a renewed vigor he began inspecting each and every person that walked passed him, looking for any similarities between the three he'd seen yesterday and the people in front of him.

Would they be walking in a group? Or would they split up? If they split up it would definitely be more difficult for him to recognize them. He just had to hope that the demon trio liked to stay a trio and didn't like exploring alone.

Narrowed eyes skimmed across the crowd, deciding those who couldn't be the trio- whether they were too tall, too old, too young, or weren't wearing a cover on their wrist- and took in all those who could be them.

He hadn't seen anyone wearing the hats he'd seen yesterday which only further proved his previous thoughts that they might not even be wearing them today, but just as he thought that he spotted them.

They were already well into the towns festivities, probably having been there the entire time he'd been waiting near the docks. They were at one of the food stalls, the trio mingling amongst a group that he knew to be commanders of the Whitebeards.

Just his luck.

Moving quickly, he merged into the crowd, keeping his focus trained on the group that was now making their way towards some of the provided entertainment- a local man who claimed to be a magician and some musicians.

Once again, he had yet to see the trio's faces, but they're hats were just as he remembered, and as he looked at their wrists he saw the same bands on them, all showing off the Whitebeard Pirates' jolly roger. Thinking quickly he raised his Kameko and snapped a shot of the symbol, prepared to show it in his report to help prove the marines' previous theory that the Whitebeards had aided the children from the facility in escaping.

The group stopped to watch the magician as he started pulling a never-ending supply of colorful handkerchiefs from his sleeve and he took this time to position himself into a better spot so he could see their faces.

Try as he might though, it was for naught because as soon as he tried making his way through the crowd to get a better view, everyone decided now was the time to get in his way. To avoid drawing attention to himself he waited calmly as quite a large group of people crossed right in front of his path, keeping him from advancing. Once they were gone, so was the demon trio.

With an angry remark, he scanned the surrounding area to try and figure out where they had gone, thanking his lucky stars when he found them relatively quickly. They were walking away from the entertainment and off towards some games that had been set up.

Chase beginning anew, he hurried after them, still cautious enough to keep enough distance to not look suspicious. Once they stopped again he attempted yet again to get a better angle, and this time was able to do so without issue. He had to awkwardly maneuver between people and stand quite obviously in between a cluster of houses, but he finally had a view of the demon trio.

To say they didn't look like he expected, though, would be an understatement. When he'd first heard about the trio he had spent countless days wondering what kind of ruthless monsters they could be, wondered how scary they would look, how deadly they were.

Looking at the three teens though, he wondered if he even had the right kids after all.

Shaking his head from those thoughts he frowned, raising his Kameko up to get the shots he needed.

No matter how innocent someone looked, that didn't mean they weren't the scum of the Earth. After all, just take the Devil Child from Ohara for instance.

After getting the pictures, he decided to continue following them, both to make sure they didn't cause trouble, and to make sure he really did have the right kids. He wouldn't know that for sure though unless one of them moved their wristbands, and he wasn't about to get his hopes up that that would happen again.

He followed them around for another few hours before something happened.

With the big crowd, it was only inevitable that you would get bumped into, and that's exactly what happened to the blonde. Someone bumped right into him, and with a smile, the blonde waved it off, but in doing so, the marine saw that his wristband had been ever so slightly nudged, showing the hints of his number underneath. He seemed to realize it at the same time the blonde did, but he was quick to get a shot before the blonde could cover it back up.

He also had to quickly duck behind a stall when the blonde began looking around, a slight look of panic in his eyes at the thought that someone might have seen.

Taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart at nearly getting caught, the marine slowly poked his head around the cart, ignoring the looks he was getting for how strange he looked to the villagers. Seeing that the group was once again on the move, not having noticed him, he sighed in relief, deciding to quit while he was ahead.

He had their pictures, he had evidence it was them, and he had proof they were with the Whitebeards.

Hello promotion, goodbye boring island.


	70. The First Session

"Ready to cast off!" Ace, Sabo, and Luffy watched as the Moby left the island they'd been at, smiling at the memory of all the fun they'd had at the festival the day before.

Today, however, they had to do something they didn't really want to do, but knew it would be best if they did.

Honestly, Sabo was beginning to notice a pattern- one he wasn't liking- because every time the brothers have an even remotely good day, it's always followed by a pretty shitty one. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case, and all that would happen would be that the brothers would be uncomfortable seeing as they had to talk to Whiskey.

The only saving grace from all of this was that they would be talking out on deck which was a lot nicer of a thought then talking to her in her office.

Speaking of.

"Whiskeys on her way," Sabo said with a hint of a sigh, trying to calm himself, knowing it wouldn't help if Luffy was feeling not only his own panic but his brothers' as well.

"Do we have to do this?" Ace muttered, training his eyes on the water lapping against the side of the ocean.

"No, we don't _have_ to, but we _should_. We all agreed this could help us a lot. You don't need to do it Ace, you either Luffy, but it could help." Sabo said, reiterating to them that they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Whiskey had said so herself, and Sabo was immensely grateful they now had the freedom to choose.

"Hello you three, are you ready?" Whiskey asked, smiling gently to them, her posture relaxed, trying to look as peaceful as possible. If it were anyone else, the brothers would be fine, but just because she was a nurse, she was intimidating.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Sabo said with his best smile. She nodded knowingly.

"Pops permitted us to use the upper deck and promised to keep anyone from interrupting unless absolutely necessary. He even has Marco and Haruta doing watch right now to make sure some of the more nosy members don't listen in. No one but Pops knows about what we're talking about, just that they're not allowed to listen in, and as I said before, Pops won't know anything that we talk about during these sessions either, he only knows that I'm helping you three." Whiskey explained, gesturing to the upper deck. The brothers nodded, feeling a bit more comfortable after hearing that. They trusted Marco and were beginning to trust the rest of the commanders, namely Haruta, so they were relieved to hear they would be helping them out as well, even if they didn't completely know what they were doing.

The group of four headed to the upper deck, reaching it quickly before settling down. Whiskey had a notebook and pencil in preparation, reading over something before nodding to herself and looking up.

"To begin, as I said before, I'll have private talks with each of you to figure out the best way to help you. I know you don't like the idea of being alone with me in a group, much less one-on-one, but it would be beneficial to do this individually rather than all together. The other two can sit on the steps right there, within viewing distance, but I'd rather you not listen in if you can help it." Whiskey explained slowly. The brothers had expected this, Sabo mentioned it might be the case, and they talked about what they would do.

They had eventually decided- after a long debate- that they would have a safe word. If Whiskey started doing anything they couldn't handle, they just had to say the safe word- _Kangaroo_ \- and the other two brothers would come and end the session, simple as that. Hearing that they could sit close-by made it easier for them, and they all nodded along to the condition.

Whiskey smiled, having expected more of a fight about the suggestion, but was pleasantly surprised that hadn't been the case.

"In that case, does anyone want to go first?" She asked, watching as the brothers shifted, taking note of their every movement and expression, every reaction they had to her words and suggestions. If she wanted to take on the task of helping the brothers get better she had to know more about them, more about what set them off, more about how they reacted to certain situations, and to do that she had to be as observant as possible.

"I believe I'm going first," Sabo said, shifting a bit, sitting up straighter.

"Sounds good. Who's going next after Sabo?" Whiskey asked so she knew which one to call after she was done talking to Sabo.

"Me." Ace muttered.

"And that means Luffy last then. If you don't mind, Ace, Luffy, could you go sit over there? I'll call you over when we're done." Whiskey said after taking note of the order. The two nodded a bit hesitantly, but got up and left without any argument. Whiskey and Sabo watched as they walked to the step, sitting on the second one from the top, before beginning to talk amongst themselves.

"Starting is always the hardest, but remember, at any time you can ask me any questions you might have." Whiskey said as she turned to a new sheet of paper in her notebook, Sabo watching her carefully and nodding.

"I know that everything you three went through was traumatizing, but I don't know to what extent seeing as I haven't heard anything about your past. I'm not asking you to tell me everything all at once, but it would help if I did know more. However, why don't we start somewhere a bit easier? What's something you want to be able to get out of this? Something you have difficulty doing now that you want to get better at?" Whiskey asked, leaving Sabo to think for a moment.

"I think... I think I want to be able to do a few things. Maybe have fewer nightmares, or even be able to walk by new people without being so... scared." Sabo said, shifting a bit. It always was uncomfortable for him to share his feelings with those he wasn't close with. Ace and Luffy were always the two he could talk to about anything, and it was weird letting in more people.

"Do you have nightmares often?" The nurse asked, writing as she spoke. Sabo merely nodded in response.

"How often? Every week? Every few days? Every other night?" Sabo shifts again, reminding himself that this was something he had to talk about if he wanted help.

"Most nights. Sometimes every other night." He answered, gaze shifting to the deck inbetween him and the nurse.

"And how far apart would you be ok with the nightmares being? Would you want them to be gone completely or would it be fine for you if they only happened a few times a month?" Whiskey continued questioning.

"It'd be nice if they stopped completely, but I don't know how realistic that is so I'm fine with just a few times a week if anything." The blonde replied truthfully. It was exhausting to have nightmares every night, so if he could even have a day or two break inbetween, that would be all he would need.

"What about what you said earlier? Walking around strangers? How do you normally feel when confronted with someone you don't know?" Whiskey asked, flipping a page in her notebook.

"Cautious, nervous... scared," Sabo said, swallowing.

"And you want to meet someone new without feeling any of that?" Whiskey asked, Sabo, nodding in answer.

"Well, that should be all for now. This was only the first session so it may not have been as in-depth as the next few could be, but its a good start. It helped you set some goals for the end result and it let me know what we should start working on. If you want to keep doing this then I suggest we have another one of these sessions later in the week." Whiskey informed, Sabo, nodding along, showing he understood. Honestly, he was kind of surprised that it was over so soon and that everything he had feared would happen _hadn't._ Not once did Whiskey do or ask him to say anything that he wasn't ok with, and he was a bit amazed that a nurse of all people hadn't tried dragging anything out of him against his will.

Right, he had to change that way of thinking, because not all nurses were bad.

"Thank you Whiskey. I'll see you next time then." He said, brushing his pants off as he stood. Whiskey smiled to him, saying her own farewell before calling Ace over. The eldest's head turned, a scowl forming on his face instinctually before quickly disappearing as he stood up. He ruffled Luffy's hair and grumbled something that the nurse couldn't hear but had Sabo rolling his eyes. Sabo smiled at his brother's stubbornness but decided that was probably how he was coping with all the new things happening around him.

Ace was obviously reluctant as he walked over to the nurse and sat down in front of her. She didn't seem to take offense to it though and continued to smile at him, which he didn't know if he liked or not.

He didn't know what she and Sabo had talked about, but the blonde hadn't abandoned the session, and he didn't look too shaken up afterward, so it couldn't have been all that bad. Despite these thoughts though, Ace still found it difficult to be sitting and talking to a nurse of all people. _Willingly_.

"Hello, Ace. I appreciate that you decided to talk with me. I know how hard this must be for you." She said, turning pages in her notebook. Ace shrugged, shifting nervously.

"S'not that bad I guess." He said but knew his own words were a lie. For him, this was borderline torture. He had agreed to try and get help from the nurse though so he would stick it out for at least the first session.

"Still, something like this is hard for most people to do without the right encouragement. People who need help normally don't get it until its too late." Whiskey said. Ace didn't quite know how to respond to that and opted for silence, deciding the nurse would probably continue the conversation.

"We'll start the same way I did with Sabo, and remember, you can ask questions at any time so feel free to interrupt me if you have to." Whiskey reiterated for Ace who nodded.

"Good. Now, what's something you'd like to get out of these sessions? The trauma you've had to face has no doubt changed your personality, or maybe even your thinking. What's something you want to be able to do later that you cant do now?" Whiskey asked. Ace thought for a moment, looking towards his hands that were holding onto his ankles as he sat criss-cross on the deck.

"I don't know... be able to... you know... control my emotions better. It used to be worse, but whenever I don't know how to handle my emotions I just... get angry about it and explode, and that's not good around Luffy cause then he gets angry too and I don't want that to happen. And I don't like the nightmares either." Ace admitted, trying to force away the flush from admitting to someone the things that he had issues with.

It was true though, he'd never been all that good at expressing his feelings and it normally made him angry as a result. Not to mention, having nightmares every night was a pain in the ass.

"That's a good goal Ace. Having difficulty expressing yourself is alright, it happens to the best of us. Honestly, I have issues with it myself at times, so I understand wanting to get more control over it." The head nurse said, still smiling gently. Her words made Ace look up, a bit of skepticism in his eyes at her words, but mostly believing them to be true. She didn't look like she was lying just to make him feel better, but he wouldn't know for sure unless Luffy got a read on her feelings and told him.

"What emotions do you have the most difficult time with?" Whiskey asked, continuing the questioning, snapping Ace out of his thoughts.

"Uh... I used to be really bad with people showing me any kind of affection. I used to be mean because I didn't really know how to respond, and if I get flustered or too confused I just get angry instead." Ace explained, watching Whiskeys pencil glide along her notebook as a way to focus on something that wasn't the nurse herself.

"And the nightmares? Do you want them gone completely, or would you be happy with having them every once in a while?" Whiskey asked.

"It doesn't really matter to me, as long as its not every damn night," Ace said, a bit of anger slipping into his tone at the thought of how annoying and terrifying the nightmares were for him. Not to mention exhausting.

"Understandable." Whiskey said before giving Ace the same closing she'd given Sabo, telling the eldest that this was only the first session which was meant more for him to set goals rather than get into anything too heavy right away. He nodded along with her words, taking them all in, slowly relaxing as he realized they were already done. He hadn't even realized before that Sabo's session had been so quick, too nervous about his own to notice, but now that he was done with his own he realized that it had only been about ten minutes long.

"Are all sessions gonna be this short?" Ace asked curiously.

"No, as I said, this was only the first session. Normally they'll be about thirty minutes to an hour seeing as we'll have much more to talk about." She said. Ace nodded understandingly.

"Well, it was nice speaking with you Ace. I hope you'll continue these sessions." Whiskey said as a means of a farewell. Ace said his own goodbye as he stood, mind still reeling at the fact that this session had been a lot easier then he had expected. Sure, they hadn't even talked about much yet, but he was relieved that Whiskey didn't seem to be expecting him to talk about anything he wasn't ready to talk about yet.

As he had these thoughts he heard Whiskey calling over Luffy for his own session and began subconsciously sending the youngest bursts of warmth, knowing he was just as nervous, if not more, as he had been. Luffy stood a bit slowly from the step, Sabo patting his back reassuringly and telling him something quietly, to which Luffy nodded. Ace and Luffy passed each other, and Ace clapped Luffys shoulder, telling him it'd be alright before going to join Sabo on the step.

Luffy didn't know how to feel about this at all. On one hand, he was extremely nervous about having to talk to the nurse, someone he still couldn't figure out whether they were a good person or not, and on the other, he felt that this would go just fine because Ace and Sabo seemed to be alright. Their nervousness had even gone away and they felt better after talking to her.

As much as he wanted that to help though, it didn't, and his stomach flipped back and forth uncomfortably at the thought of talking to the nurse. Even as he sat right in front of her, even as he felt the warmth radiating from Ace and Sabo, even as he felt nothing but calm, peaceful feelings coming from Whiskey, he couldn't bring himself to stop feeling that horrible nervous anxiety.

"Hello, Luffy." Whiskey said simply, having a feeling Luffy needed a minute to calm himself. He was fidgeting worse then Ace and Sabo had combined.

"Hi," Luffy replied hesitantly, voice quiet and timid. He tried letting other people's happiness and warmth influence him, but of course, when he wanted it to it didn't do anything.

"I'm happy you decided that we could have this talk." Whiskey continued on gently, not wanting to scare off the youngest of the trio anymore than she already was. Luffy continued shifting and fidgeting, not looking up from the deck that he had been staring at the entire time.

"Wanted help," Luffy said shortly. Any signs of his happy demeanor that had been showing through lately were completely gone, showing only the scared timid boy that he had been ever since the facility.

"And I intend to give you that help. I know its hard, and maybe even a little scary to talk to me. I understand, so don't worry I don't mind." Whiskey said, and Luffy looked up just enough to see her give him a playful wink, a smile still on her face and only happy, calm feelings coming from her. It eased him, but only slightly.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. Anything I ask is only meant for me to help you better in the long run, but if you don't like something that I ask, you can just tell me pass and I won't ask about it again unless you bring it up. Sound good?" Whiskey asked. Luffy thought about it, wondering if all good nurses were like this. He still didn't have much experience with good nurses, only Whiskey, and she always made sure the brothers knew what she was doing before she did it. She gave them freedom, and it contradicted everything Luffy had grown up seeing nurses and doctors do.

"Mhm." Luffy hummed in agreement, calming down further at the freedom of choice.

"If you have any questions at all, you can ask them. I'll answer all of them to the best of my abilities." Whiskey continued explaining. By now, Luffy's fidgeting had died down completely to the point that he was only shuffling around every few minutes rather than constantly.

"Ok," Luffy said, continuing to keep his responses short and quiet. Even though he was slightly more comfortable around Whiskey now compared to when he first met her, it was still hard for him to let go of that fear that clung to him, telling him nurses and doctors were bad, horrible people that didn't care about you, your feelings, or whether you were in pain or not.

"I'll start off easy, just a simple yes or no. After everything you've gone through, would you say you've changed compared to how you used to be before everything with the facility happened? Maybe you act different, or think differently then you used to?" Whiskey asked, her tone becoming even softer and gentler than before at the sensitive topic. Luffy flinched at the mention of the facility but nodded. He knew he had changed, it was obvious he had, and it made him hate the facility even more for being able to have that effect on him. He just wanted to be the way he used to be, but that seemed like an impossibility now after everything he'd been through.

"Yeah..." Luffy said, earning a nod from Whiskey as she started writing more notes down.

"And do you like the changes?" Whiskey asked, making Luffy frown a bit.

"No." He said firmly, the answer coming easy to him.

"What's something you'd want to change?" The nurse asked, making him think. He'd never really thought about anything specific before, he just knew he wanted to change, wanted to go back to normal.

"I wanna stop being scared... and I wanna stop having nightmares... I don't like being scared all the time." Luffy said, his voice small and timid again, practically shrinking in on himself as he looked at the deck again rather than the nurse.

"Is there anything in particular that makes you scared? I know you don't like nurses, but is that it or are there other things you're scared of?" Whiskey asked, and Luffy thought about whether he wanted to answer the heavy question.

"I-I... I get scared of strangers, and people with bad feelings and I'm scared of being alone." Luffy said, listing the things he knew he was scared of.

"And your nightmares, do you have them often?" Whiskey asked, having a feeling she knew the answer already after having spoken to Ace and Sabo.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, nodding instead of speaking.

"How often? Every day?" She asked, trying to make it easier on the clearly terrified and nervous teen.

"Mm." He hummed again, still not looking up from the deck.

"How often would you rather have them?" She asked, and it took Luffy a minute to register the question.

"I-I don't know... Not every day." Luffy said with a shrug, not really minding as long as they didn't wake him and his brothers up every night. He always felt guilty when he woke Sabo up, knowing his brother was probably more exhausted then he was.

It was quiet a moment while Whiskey continued writing something, but eventually, she stopped, putting the notebook down and smiling to Luffy.

"Well, I think that's all for now." She said, surprising Luffy, expecting something else to happen, expecting to have not liked the talk with the nurse, but he found that it hadn't been all that bad.

"Really?" He asked a bit hesitantly, trying to remind himself that Whiskey herself had said that he could ask questions if he wanted to.

"That's right. This was only the first session, so we're still getting to know each other. If you want to continue these sessions we'll probably talk longer then we did today." She said, standing and stretching. Luffy stood with her, glancing over to his brothers who's backs were to him as they watched everyone on the lower deck.

"Why don't we go tell them you're done, hm?" She asked good-naturedly, and Luffy dared to give her a bit of a smile, nodding before they began walking over to the two.

"Oh, you done Lu?" Ace asked, Luffy noticing that Sabo had tapped that he heard them coming.

"Mhm!" Luffy hummed with a bigger smile than before, happy to be back near his brothers.

"It wasn't too bad, was it?" Sabo asked, ruffling his little brother's hair, his usual straw hat resting against his back thanks to the string around his neck.

"Nope!" Luffy said, easily finding his way inbetween his brothers as usual while they all turned to look at Whiskey.

"In that case, we're all done for today. As I told you all earlier, this session was shorter due to it being the first one. If you three decide you want to continue this, we can. The sessions would probably be around thirty minutes to an hour each, and we'll have them twice a week if possible." The nurse explained, notebook and pencil held close to her side.

"Thank you again Whiskey, we appreciate this," Sabo said, to which the nurse waved it off.

"Believe me, I just want to help in any way I can. If you find you do want to continue just come by and tell me and I can tell you when our next session can be. It was nice talking to you." She said, waving to them as she began walking off. The brothers waved back until they couldn't see her anymore before collectively sighing.

"That sure was an experience." Ace said, rolling his shoulders to get rid of any lasting tension.

"You can say that again," Sabo said, thinking back to his own conversation with the nurse. Even though he easily could have, he hadn't listened in on Luffy and Aces conversations, blocking them out the best he could by focusing more on the loud boisterous pirates of the crew they had decided to join.

"You guys done?" Haruta asked, walking up to them. Above them, there was a flash of blue, and they watched as Marco turned from a flaming bird into a human, landing softly beside the commander.

"We are. Thank you for helping us out." Sabo said, still amazed by the fruit Marco had. He only knew he had one and what kind it was because he'd heard Luffy ramble on about the blue flames he'd used when he helped rescue them. The similarities between the commanders' flames and his brothers' made Luffy curious about what fruit he had and had asked once during dinner, to which Marco explained he had a mythical zone fruit, the Phoenix.

"It was no problem, yoi. We didn't mind helping out." Marco said smoothly, voice as calm and even as ever, his bored look ever-present on his face.

"Yeah, trust me, watching for eavesdroppers was way better than hearing Thatch moan about how he couldn't enjoy the festival yesterday because he was busy," Haruta said with an eye roll. Sabo smiled, hearing the man himself whining in the kitchen to one of the other cooks. It had actually been the thing he'd used to distract himself from Ace and Luffy's talks the most.

"I know, I've been listening ever since I finished my talk. He's still going on about it." Sabo said, laughing lightly at Haruta's over-dramatic groan.

"No! Marco, give me something else to do! Tell me I have to go do some important work! Please!" Haruta practically begged, this time making the first commander roll his eyes.

"You don't need me to tell you about all that paperwork you haven't done, yoi," Marco said, making the other commander perk up in glee.

"Yes, you're right! Thanks, Marco, see you guys around!" Haruta said before spinning on his heels and nearly running towards his room, ignoring the strange looks he got for it.

"I feel like this is a reoccurring thing." Ace said with a raised eyebrow, watching the commander run. He laughed as he saw him nearly fall after he tripped over his feet.

"Sadly, nearly everyone on this ship can be a bit over-dramatic at times," Marco said, shaking his head and crossing his arms.

"Surely you don't mean me as well my dear brother," Izo said as he walked up to the group, a smile on his face, though his eyes screamed that he was ready to attack Marco for his comment.

"Of course not Izo, yoi," Marco said, not turning to look at his ship brother, smiling to the brothers who smiled back. This made Izo frown and huff, but he didn't seem to take too much offense to the words, instead turning his attention to the brothers.

"So you're done talking to Whiskey?" He asked, all of them nodding.

"Yup! Whiskey wasn't mean to me at all either, she was really nice!" Luffy chirped happily, pleased with how his talk had gone, even if he had felt pretty scared and nervous throughout the whole thing.

"Well, that's good. I wouldn't expect anything less of one of our best nurses." Izo said pleasantly, smiling to Luffy who continued beaming back. Beside him, Sabo's eyes drifted towards the galley door, a hint of a smile ghosting upon his face.

"I think you may want to go hide Izo, Thatch is coming to find you so he can complain about his lack of adventure on the island yesterday," Sabo said, hearing the man tell the poor chef he'd been complaining to just that, his footsteps heading straight to the door.

"Of course he is. Well, it was nice speaking to you three." Izo said with a wave to them, and Marco didn't miss that he completely ignored him, probably still a bit angry about his earlier comment. That was fine, he would get over it before lunch like he always did.

"We better go too, I'd rather not listen to even more of his complaining if I can help it," Sabo said to Marco who nodded in agreement.

"I'm taking everyone else's lead and locking myself in my room," Marco said, the four of them all beginning a fast-paced walk to their rooms. They said their goodbyes in the hall, all slipping silently into their rooms. Sabo didn't miss the sounds of Thatch leaving the galley, wreaking havoc to those on deck as he searched for anyone to listen to his woes.

Sabo couldn't help but laugh when he heard him complain that he couldn't find anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> The brothers took a big step in talking to Whiskey, even if they didn't do much talking yet. Just starting is always hard. As Whiskey said, that isn't how all their sessions will be, but the first one was more of a goal setting session than anything. Other sessions would be more typical of what you would expect when going to therapy.
> 
> Oh, and in case you were worried, no, we didn't see the aftermath of a certain Marines discoveries this time, but rest assured, the next chapter will go into more detail about that.


	71. New Bounties

The next day, things started off relatively calm. The brothers woke up easily, blessed with a night of dreamless sleep, and Luffy told them Teach was once again no longer on the ship, which was fantastic news. The three left their room, deciding they wanted to go to the deck to hang out until breakfast was ready. Like usual there weren't a lot of crew members out and about, most still trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. A few commanders were out, as well as Whitebeard, so the brothers decided to sit close by to them.

Marco and Izo were in the middle of a conversation together, as well as Jiru and Jozu, and Haruta was sitting against Whitebeards chair, polishing his sword. When the brothers walked over, everyone greeted them happily, to which they replied with greetings of their own before sitting with Haruta.

"How has your morning been so far my sons?" Whitebeard asked them collectively. The three of them still didn't quite know how they felt about the term that Whitebeard referred to them as, but they didn't say anything about it. They also hadn't called him Oyaji or Pops as everyone else did, and they didn't know if they ever would.

"Not bad so far. We slept pretty well." Sabo said with a smile.

"I'm glad. Would you three mind teaching me a few more of those taps of yours? I think they could be helpful in the future." Whitebeard asked, smiling warmly to them. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all shared a glance with each other but found no harm in it.

"I can help you like last time!" Luffy said happily with a grin, stretching his arms up to grab onto the arm of Whitebeards chair, sitting near the giant's hand so he would be able to help the Captain tap.

"Gurarara! Sounds good to me." Whitebeard laughed. The Commanders that were present had stopped what they were doing, asking if they could join. After all, if their Captain knew these taps, it would be beneficial for them to know them as well. Besides, they were all interested in the silent language the brothers had created and wanted to know more about it.

And so Sabo and Ace split the group in two, each of them demonstrating for those in their group and showing them how to do the taps correctly. They taught them all a few phrases they'd yet to teach them, and at one point, they're names came up.

"How do you signal each other's names to each other?" Jiru asked, curious.

"Ah, well, at first, when we weren't that good at the language, we spelled them out. For example, Ace, we would tap the sign for A, then C, then E, but it got confusing for people with longer names. Now we've created their own shortcuts. Again, for example, Ace. Instead of spelling his name, we start to sign the word fire, but near the end we give a sharper tap, to indicate we mean it as Aces name. The same goes for Luffy and the word rubber and for me its the word smart." Sabo said, showing them the taps as he said them, the Commanders watching in fascination.

"Whenever we meet someone new, we spell their name to each other until we know more about them and can shorten their names with words. For example, Thatch, we use the word cook. Marco is Phoenix, which we also had to create a new tap for seeing as we'd never needed to use that word before, and Whitebeard is giant." Sabo continued, showing them the taps.

"That's pretty clever." Jozu commended, making the brothers smile at the praise. The groups' attention turned to the sky when they heard the news coo arriving, and a few commanders signaled for a paper. The brothers watched as they received the news, paying the bird and watched it fly away.

"Oh my," Izo said, eyebrows raised in response at the front page.

"What is it?" Haruta asked, not having bought himself a paper.

"You three made front page again, yoi," Marco said with a sigh, and the brothers felt that it wasn't anything good.

"Oh yeah?" Ace asked, frowning. Izo opened his paper, pulling out what looked to be updated and new wanted posters.

"Look at these." He said, raising three of the pages and showing them their own wanted posters. Instead of an empty spot for a picture, they each had their faces plastered on the paper, shocking the brothers, and they had been raised 50 million for a grand total of 150 million.

"Of course they found us." Ace growled out, anger quick to raise its ugly head.

"Be grateful they don't know our names," Sabo muttered, staring at his own picture.

" _Yet._ " Ace grumbled back bitterly.

"It was bound to happen eventually Ace," Sabo said, trying to calm his temperamental older brother. Luffy was silent where he sat next to Whitebeards' hand, face not giving way to his emotions on the subject.

It was obvious where the pictures had been taken and that whoever took them was a little far away, a bit of the festival showing in the background, showing that it had been when they were playing games. Luffy was showing a classic D grin, eyes closed and arms in the air, hat proudly on his head, Ace was smirking in his picture, arms crossed over his chest and hat shadowing one of his eyes, and Sabo's picture was taken at a three-quarter view, showing that he was also grinning in his picture.

"The article says they know you're apart of our crew now, as well as emphasizing that you're as dangerous as ever among other things," Jozu said with a hint of a scowl on his face, eyes skimming through the article quickly.

"Of course it does. Explains the rise in bounty too." Sabo said with a sigh. Beside him, Ace was practically fuming.

"Calm down Ace, do you want to influence Luffy?" Sabo asked with a small glare, trying to keep his own annoyance with his brother to a minimum. Looking over, the group saw that Luffy was looking down, seeming to be concentrating. As usual, the mention of Luffy snapped Ace out of it, and he swallowed down the anger.

"Is it easy to influence him?" Jozu asked in concern.

"Not usually no, especially if he has distractions or other feelings he can focus on, but Aces anger tends to get out of control to the point that it can be a bit overwhelming for Luffy," Sabo said, still watching Luffy carefully. He seemed to be doing ok now that Ace had calmed down. His lips, which had been pressed thin, were now back to normal, only slightly downturned.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Jiru asked, and Sabo turned his attention to the Commanders who all looked worried for his brother.

"Yes, but its a bit difficult to explain. Basically, you need to convince yourself to feel a certain emotion, particularly good ones like happiness. If you feel happy, or peaceful, or calm Luffy can pick up on it and use it to calm down." Sabo said, doing just that himself and sending Luffy peaceful, calm feelings while Ace tried doing the same beside him. It seemed Luffy was feeling better now, and Sabo cursed the marines once again for being able to have so much power over the brothers.

His thoughts were interrupted when the announcement that breakfast was made sounded. Everyone out on deck began shuffling to the galley, the commanders, brothers, and captain still sitting.

"Well anyways, they still don't know your names, so that's good," Jiru said with a cough, trying to ease the tension that had arisen during their conversation. Sabo sighed, Ace scowled and Luffy shifted a bit, but otherwise was fine. With that, their group began heading to breakfast as well, the rest of the commanders appearing and joining them as well.

The tension left with the addition of the rest of the commanders as well as food being able to distract them and new conversations began sprouting up. Thatch joined their table eventually and gladly joined in on the chatter around him. Luffy looked to be feeling better if the smile on his face was any indicator, and Ace was even joining in on a conversation with a couple of the commanders too.

"No way, I don't believe it," Haruta said with a firm shake of his head, many other commanders agreeing with him. Ace merely shrugged, a smug grin on his face.

"Doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it's true." Ace said, eating another mouthful of food. Beside him, Luffy was snickering while continuing to stuff his own face, and Sabo was grinning widely as well.

"What kind of East Blue Island has animals that large?" Rakuyo asked skeptically.

"Ours." Ace said simply.

"Remember that one time we found that giant boar! Shishishi, it almost got you Ace." Luffy laughed, Sabo beginning to laugh as well. Ace turned a glare on the youngest, pausing in eating his food.

"That's only because you-" Sabo instinctively reached his hand out past Luffy, catching his brother's head before it could fall into his food. Luffy continued laughing as if nothing had happened, and the commanders and Whitebeard blinked in shock.

"Is he ok?" Atmos asked as Sabo moved the food away from Aces' place, putting the eldest's head on the table.

"Yeah, it's just his narcolepsy. He'll be awake again soon." The blonde said, satisfied that his brother wouldn't get hurt now and returning to his own food.

"One time, Ace fell out of the tree we were hiding in and Jii-chan found him! Me and Sabo ran away before we saw what happened." Luffy said, remembering the day easily.

"How did you know he was about to fall asleep?" Whitebeard asked, curious. The way Sabo caught his brother made it seem as if there had been some warning beforehand.

"When Ace has a sleep attack his emotions get all weird, and then they get all fuzzy, like when someone falls asleep," Luffy explained.

"Luffy usually warns me that it will happen, and if we're lucky, Ace himself can signal he's about to fall asleep, but that's not always the case," Sabo added.

"That's pretty handy-"

"-Brought it back to the treehouse!" Ace suddenly exclaimed, head shooting up from the table and scaring a few of the Commanders, namely Thatch who nearly fell off the bench.

"Welcome back," Sabo said without skipping a beat, taking a bite of eggs.

"How long?" Ace asked, rubbing his head and blinking his eyes a few times.

"Only a minute," Luffy said, still grinning happily as he finished his food, stealing bits of Aces.

"Oi, you little twerp, that's mine!" Ace said, scuffing Luffy on the back of the head, eliciting more laughs from Luffy who didn't mind in the slightest. There were some chuckles around them from those watching the interaction, but Ace ignored them and opted to finish his food before Luffy could grab anymore.

"Luffy, you know it's not nice to steal from Ace when he's having a sleep attack." Sabo scolded, though didn't look all that serious about it.

"Gee, real convincing there Sabo," Ace muttered, scowling. Sabo sent him another smile and laughed once more before finishing his food as well.

"If I thought Luffy would actually listen then I would try harder, but you and I both know that when it comes to food and Luffy he makes his own rules," Sabo said, placing his empty plates on top of Luffy's, and then those onto Aces, before handing them to Thatch.

"In any case, it was nice talking with all of you," Sabo said, the three of them standing and saying their goodbyes. The commanders and Captain said their goodbyes as well, and then the brothers left, heading towards the infirmary.

They had spoken about whether they wanted to continue their sessions with Whiskey, and after talking for a bit about it, they decided it would be best if they did. They were all pleasantly surprised at the way Whiskey handled the talks with them and found that they didn't mind talking to her all that much. If they got past all of the nervousness and anxiety they felt about nurses in general, then it would probably be a whole lot easier, but as it was now, they just had to push through that part of it.

They wanted to get better. They wanted to be able to accept a nurses, or a doctors help. They wanted to do a lot of things that they now couldn't thanks to the facility. The only way they found that they could do that, was if they went through with the help Whiskey was offering to give them.

Once they were in the infirmary they found the head nurse and went straight toward her. They told her they wanted to continue the sessions, and she scheduled a time later that week that they could talk to her. The whole interaction only took a handful of minutes, but by the time they were heading back out onto the deck, many were finishing up with their breakfast.

"Hey Ace, Sabo, Luffy!" Haruta called from where he was sitting with Atmos.

"Yeah?" Ace asked as they walked over to him.

"I need you to settle an argument between Atmos and me," Haruta said, a look of annoyance on his face.

"An argument?" Ace asked, all of the brothers equally confused.

"Haruta had this theory a while ago that Sabo listens in still whenever your names are mentioned. Half the commanders are divided on whether they think you do, or whether you don't." Atmos explained, obviously on the side that believed they didn't.

"Yeah, so which is it? Cause if I were you, I would totally be listening in. Well, honestly, I would probably listen in even if I wasn't mentioned... but only in certain cases I guess." Haruta said, thinking of all the blackmail he could get on Thatch. Imagine all the sweets he could make Thatch make for him in exchange for him keeping his mouth shut.

He shook those thoughts away.

"Well, honestly, it's a bit fifty-fifty. Sometimes I'll listen if it seems important, but most times lately I just let it go. Like I said before, I'm not exactly a big fan of listening in on people, but sometimes I can't really help it." Sabo answered with a shrug. It was true though, because at night, after waking up from a nightmare, when most of the Moby is quiet, there will be the few on watch that have conversations together, and its a lot harder to block them out when there's nothing else to listen to.

"Wait... so we're both wrong... and right?" Haruta asked.

"Guess so." Sabo said, smiling to the two.

"I'll take that," Atmos said happily, Haruta nodding in agreement. They thanked the brothers before heading off, and the trio decided to go sit by Whitebeard again. Marco, as usual, was at his Captain's side, watching over the crew, and Blamenco was there as well, finishing his own conversation with Whitebeard before deciding to sit and relax as well.

"Welcome back." Whitebeard greeted as they sat down.

"Hi, Mr. Whitebeard!" Luffy cheered, waving to the giant as he sat inbetween his brothers.

"Did you have a talk with Whiskey?" He asked, having watched the brothers leave the infirmary.

"Yeah. We're gonna be using the upper deck again later this week." Ace replied, trying to get used to actually replying to the pirates. Normally they left it up to Sabo to converse for them, but now that they were apart of the crew, he wanted to be better at having his own conversations and not relying on Sabo all the time.

"That's fine, as long as its helping you boys, I don't mind," Whitebeard said sincerely, making the brothers feel warm. With that, a new conversation began between the brothers and the two commanders, Whitebeard merely watching with a smile. Blamenco was talking to them, wanting to know more about their abilities, and occasionally Marco would ask a question of his own. The brothers didn't mind sharing more about themselves, not like they used to, so it was easy for them to respond and explain the different nuances that came with having heightened senses.

"So you can see really far, _and_ you can see in the dark?" Blamenco clarified, Ace nodding.

"Yup. Everything looks a bit dim, like when you wear sunglasses, but other than that, it looks just like morning even when it's dark out." Ace said.

"Doesn't that make it harder to sleep? Because its never dark?" Marco asked curiously.

"Nah, not really. I've had enhanced eyesight for years. It was kind of annoying at first, but everything's dark once you close your eyes so it's not that big a deal." Ace said with a shrug.

"Yeah, and it means Ace can find my hat for me when I lose it at night!" Luffy said, pulling the brim of his hat down at the sides of his head, smiling brightly. There had been more than one occasion where Luffy woke up and wanted the hat, only to find that he couldn't feel it when he'd reach his hand out for it.

"You have a habit of knocking it the table." Ace said with a sigh and a shake of his head, knowing there were more nights to come with Luffy waking him up out of his sleep to find the straw hat. It usually resulted in waking Sabo up too, because with Ace the closest to the wall, it meant he had to climb over his sleeping brother to get a look at the floor next to their beds.

"Nuh-uh! Its gotta be Sabo, cause he's on the end!" Luffy said with a pout as he pointed to the blonde accusingly. The blonde was the one to sleep on the end near the nightstand, Luffy in the middle and Ace, as mentioned before, closest to the wall. Sabo looked offended by the accusation.

"Um, excuse me, but did you forget your rubber? You're the one who knocks it down every time you stretch your arm too far in your sleep." Sabo said, pinching Luffy's cheek and pulling, a playful glare on his face. Luffy looked confused for a second, like he didn't really understand, which only made Sabo huff in annoyance and shake his head, knowing Luffy would probably just continue blaming him.

The interaction made their onlookers laugh, enjoying how open the brothers were becoming compared to how they used to be. When they had first met the brothers, they never would have imagined that they would ever get to this point, where they could ask a question and get an actual answer, where they could see the brothers truly relax around them. They had understood why the brothers had been so cautious about everything they did, but that didn't mean they weren't hoping for this to happen one day.

Watching the three continue joking around and laughing with them was something they wanted to have forever. They wanted the brothers to always feel this comfortable around them.

And if they had to fight a few marines for it, they would.


	72. Practice Makes Pefect

'All clear?'

'Over here is safe.'

'What about up ahead?'

'Good there too.'

'Be quiet.'

There was silence between them now, no one tapping or speaking as they waited.

'Two of them about twenty feet behind, not coming this way.'

'We should go ahead then to avoid them.'

Sabo nodded before relaxing into an easier sitting position, hand moving from the deck floor to his lap.

Haruta smiled triumphantly as he finished tapping, moving to a more relaxed position as well. The blonde sent his own smile to the Commander, amazed at how quick he had picked up the different taps he'd been teaching him. Beside him, Ace was having similar conversations with Marco, and Luffy was doing the same with Whitebeard.

They had decided they would go through some trial conversations with the commanders, or at least the ones skilled enough to do them, to test how well they could understand the silent language if it became necessary to use it.

So far, Haruta, Izo, Jozu, and now Marco and Whitebeard, had finished these trial runs, all of them passing with flying colors. The rest of the commanders had been too busy to learn, but they expressed that they still wanted to when they had time to; namely Thatch. Seeing as the chef was busy cooking most of the day, there was only a select amount of time that the brothers spent with him, so it was no surprise that he hadn't quite gotten good enough to be fluent yet.

"Good job. I think you've basically learned all you'd need to know," Sabo said. There was still a lot of things that they weren't teaching them, because they still wanted to have some privacy should the brothers need to use their silent language, but for what they needed to know, Haruta was done learning.

"Sweet! I'm still shocked that you three were able to come up with a language this complex, but it's pretty cool too!" Haruta admired, watching as Marco finished up his own conversation with Ace, passing easily along with Whitebeard who was speaking with Luffy.

"Lots of time with nothing to do meant we were able to spend most days coming up with different signs. There wasn't much to do besides think and talk with each other after all." Sabo said with a shrug, trying not to think too hard on the memories that came along with those words. From beside him, Izo and Kingdew walked up, greeting them.

"Are you finishing up?" Izo asked.

"Just about. You up for some lessons to Kingdew?" Sabo asked good-naturedly, smiling to the man who joined them in sitting on the deck.

"That would be nice. I have a bit of a break before someone in my division realizes they have a problem." The commander said with a huff of laughter, having dealt with a lot of complaints that day.

"I just finished my big exam, so he's all yours Kingdew," Haruta said, patting the commander on the back as he moved to sit with Izo, Marco and Ace instead. Sabo was quick to launch into a review of everything he'd last taught Kingdew as Haruta left.

"Ne, what's going on over here?" Haruta asked curiously as he joined the group sitting beside Sabo.

"Ace is teaching us a few more names that they made up, yoi," Marco said, watching Ace's taps closely.

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Haruta asked curiously as he sat down, also watching the taps closely.

"Just people you might run into and we might need to talk about, like Garp, Shanks, or even people on the crew." Ace said. They hadn't taught anyone specific names mostly because it would be a bit confusing for them when they were still learning the basics of the language, but seeing as these few had passed their tests, he felt it would be alright to teach them. Luffy had already started doing the same for Whitebeard after a brief conversation with Ace.

"So this is like an intermediate class then?" Haruta asked with a smile while Ace nodded, laughing a bit himself.

"If that's how you want to see it, then sure. This next one is the sign for Izo, which Luffy decided on." Ace said, doing a normal sign, but ending it with a sharper tap.

"What's the word?" Izo asked, remembering yesterday's conversation when the brothers said they used certain words for certain people.

"Ah, well Luffy chose the word pretty." Ace said, which made Izo smile softly.

"How would you show you were tapping a name if you're tapping on clothing and cant make that sharp tap sound?" Marco asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Luffy, Sabo and I kind of just know what we mean, or its easy to tell through context, but if its a new name, we might end it with a pat rather than using just a finger to tap, so it makes a louder sound, or we just spell the whole name out instead." Ace said, showing them the different options. After showing them the different ways to tap, Ace noticed that Luffy seemed to be smelling the air, his lesson with Whitebeard momentarily halted as he did. His face was scrunched in confusion and his head tilted a bit, showing Ace that he was confused.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, getting Sabo's attention, along with everyone else with them. Luffy stopped his sniffing to look at him, blinking a few times.

"What's up?" Ace asked in slight concern, all of them watching as the youngest turned back to look towards the ocean, head tilted upward slightly as he sniffed again.

"I smell something. Kinda hard to smell cause of the ocean, but the wind is bringing a scent with it." Luffy said, jumping off Whitebeards chair to go to the railing, taking a bigger sniff as he did.

"What's it smell like?" Sabo asked as he and Ace stood to follow him.

"People? I think. It's far away, and it's mixing a lot with the ocean and other scents, but I'm pretty sure its people." Luffy said, becoming more confident near the end.

"Do you know which direction?" Ace asked, already trying to scan the horizon for any ships or islands.

"Mm, I think it's over there," Luffy said, pointing in a direction Ace hadn't looked too closely at yet. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just water, but Luffy had said the wind was carrying the scent, and he had no clue how far away something could be for Luffy to still smell it, so maybe it was still too far for even him to see.

"I don't see anything, but tell us if the scent gets any stronger, alright?" Ace asked, ruffling Luffy's hair as he did. Luffy nodded understandingly before jumping back up onto Whitebeards chair and continuing where they left off as if they hadn't been interrupted in the first place. Everyone else decided to do the same, knowing Luffy would tell them if it was closer, and so they all joined Whitebeard and Luffy once again, resuming their earlier lessons as well.

It was around a half-hour later, nearing noon when Luffy paused again to smell the air, this time gaining everyone's attention instantly.

"Stronger?" Sabo asked, pausing in his lesson with Kingdew, and now Fossa.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, head once again tilted in thought. Ace got up and headed to the railing, squinting out towards the direction Luffy had pointed to before.

"I'm pretty sure I'm seeing a ship, but it's still really far away. It probably won't even get here until its closer to dinner." Ace said, just barely making out the shape he knew would eventually be a ship. Whether it was good or bad, he wouldn't know until it was much closer.

"We'll keep an eye on it. Marco, could you go tell those on watch that there will be a ship coming from that direction and have them inform us when it's visible to them?" Whitebeard asked, Marco nodding and heading off to do as instructed.

"So Luffy can smell further then Ace can see?" Fossa asked, having been briefed about what happened earlier.

"We're not entirely sure. We've never had a chance to measure how far our senses extend, but Luffy did say the wind was carrying the scent which might have helped him smell it sooner." Sabo said. As he finished explaining this, the bell for lunch went off, signaling an end to the conversation as they all stood to head toward the galley. Once inside and seated, a new conversation began, mostly with the Commanders speculating about what kind of ship it could be.

It started with them wondering if it was even going to be hostile. Some suggested it could just be a merchant ship, or maybe even a passenger ship, but then the conversation turned towards the more likely candidates, from rookie crews thinking they were bigger then they were, to Marines who thought they could take on the strongest crew of the seas in the name of Justice.

"I think its Marines," Luffy said casually as he began eating the food Thatch had just set down in front of him.

"There's Marines?" Thatch asked, having been in the kitchen and not hearing about the ship spotting yet. After catching him up, he nodded and turned to Luffy.

"And you think its marines?" He asked, Luffy nodding in response.

"Why?" Blenheim asked, wondering if there was a reasoning behind the kids' thinking.

"Smells like 'em." He said with a shrug, reminding the table that he could identify things by scent alone.

"What do Marines smell like?" Whitebeard asked out of curiosity, making Luffy think. It was always interesting for everyone to learn more about the brothers' enhanced senses, almost like they were living a real-life work of fiction.

"They smell like the sea, but everyone on ships usually do. They also smell really... clean. I don't really know how to explain it, but pirates don't usually smell as clean as Marines do, and those merchant ships we saw a few times before smelled clean, but not this clean. Its almost like when we clean the deck, but a lot stronger." Luffy said, trying to explain the best he could.

"Sounds right to me," Rakuyo said after a moment, shrugging. They couldn't smell like Luffy could, so who were they to say he was wrong. Besides, he was sure that the Marines were much cleaner then they were, it was expected of them to be.

"Not to mention, there was that newspaper confirming you three were with us. It might have spurred some of the less intelligent Marines to think they could take us on." Namur added, many nodding in agreement. Whenever the Whitebeards were in the papers there was always a bit of influx in the amount of Marine and pirate attacks, everyone thinking they could defeat them and gain the notoriety of defeating the infamous Whitebeard pirates.

"Only suicidal idiots think they can take us down. Especially with only one ship." Curiel said, garnering laughs from the table. It amazed the brothers that, even though it was their fault the crew had to put up with the extra Marine fights, the crew didn't seem to mind or seem angry about it.

They'd already come to the conclusion that the pirates weren't going to turn on them long ago, but it still shocked them to see how... _nice_ they were. Pirates in the past, namely Bluejam, had never been anything but selfish and greedy, and they had no doubt that there were plenty of pirates just like that, but to be faced with such an outlier of a group was a little hard to comprehend.

Lunch was quick to pass like always. When it came to food and the trio of brothers, it never lasted long, so in no time they were heading back out onto the deck. Ace noticed that the ship was closer yet, but still not enough for him to identify. Seeing as not many were out and about, the brothers decided to go and relax until more people were done.

They had spent most of their morning with the Commanders and Captain, teaching them their silent language, which Sabo mused they should probably give a name. Now that there was a bit of a lull they found it relaxing to just enjoy the sun and ocean breeze. It was always pretty picturesque looking over the railing and seeing the sun high in the sky, the ocean disappearing far past the horizon, and the occasional island or rock peeking out in the distance. On good days when there wasn't a cloud in sight, the blue of the sky rivaled the blue of the ocean, but when there were clouds, it changed the whole scene, adding a contrast that made everything that much more beautiful.

The three brothers were all sitting on the railing, all three of them wanted to enjoy the view, while simultaneously keeping a close check on the ship growing ever closer to them.

At one point they had to leave to do their chores, but other than that, they remained on the railing uninterrupted. Once Ace was able to identify the ship as being that of Marines, they told the Captain and Commanders, allowing everyone to make the proper preparations for a fight that was most likely to happen.

And happen it did.

As the hours dragged on, the ship slowly became more and more visible to everyone on the crew. As Ace had predicted, it was only an hour or two before dinner would be ready and served when the Marine ship made its way right beside the Moby.

Everyone was tense, ready for the inevitable fight to break out at any moment. Shouting could be heard on the Marine ship, and Sabo easily heard that it was soldiers being told to get their weapons and be prepared for the fight ahead. Of course, there was a lot of nonsense about Justice, and the demon trio, but Sabo chose to ignore that in favor of making sure he and his brothers were prepared for the fight as well.

Luffy was bouncing in anticipation, a grin on his face, while Ace had his arms crossed over his chest, fists clenched as he glared at the marine ship. It was obvious he was annoyed, Sabo and Luffy already knowing it was because he didn't like how much control it felt like the Marines had over their lives, as well as the fact that the Marines were prepared to bring them back to a horrible place, naively thinking it was because they deserved it.

Of course, Sabo and Luffy agreed with Aces thinking and were pretty peeved with the Marines as well, however, Luffy was able to push his anger away in favor of a fight, and Sabo was more focused on making sure they didn't somehow get caught again instead of getting angry. Ace, as he mentioned before, had issues with his emotions, and instead of working it out healthily, he instead got even angrier.

"Whitebeard! You'll hand over the Demon Trio this instant!" The Marine Captain shouted over to their ship, his voice demanding and full of bravado that had the entire Whitebeard crew rolling their eyes.

"Now why would I do such a thing?" Whitebeard asked, the brothers feeling the familiar warmth washing over them at the fact that someone in their shitty lives actually wanted them to be safe, wanted them to be happy.

"If you intend to defy us, we'll just have to show you the true meaning of Justice!" The Captain shouted, his lackeys cheering behind him as they all began attempting to board them. The effect was immediate, and everyone jumped into action, ready to defend their ship as well as their crewmates.

The brothers made sure to stay within view of Marco like normal as they too jumped into action. Even though they'd proved to the crew that they could hold their own, it was like an extra security to them to have the first Commander within sight, especially when all of these marines were here to get them.

As expected, most of the Marines were attempting to attack the trio, and despite their best efforts, they weren't having any luck. Luffy was ducking and jumping over swords with ease, Ace was letting swords and bullets pass through him, and Sabo was swaying out of the way, avoiding every attempt that was made to hit him.

They were quick to begin fighting back, Luffy sending a barrage of punches at those who got too close, and even those out of a normal persons reach, while Ace began sending his flames outwards, burning anyone unlucky enough to get caught up in them. Sabo was finally able to use his newly acquired pipe in a real fight, and spun it expertly in his hand before using it to bash the marine's skull that had just attempted to swing a sword at him. He quickly swung the pipe into the side of the next Marine, sending them flying off towards the railing.

The trio were practically in their element, the three of them leaving no room for anyone to get through, making sure to watch each other, and even other crewmembers' backs. Luffy outstretched his leg, using it to stamp a Marine that was sneaking up on a crewmate to their left, and Ace shot some fire bullets towards a group of three Marines who thought they could jump off the upper deck to attack Namur.

Marco was taking on the Marine Captain with minimal effort, obviously having the upper hand against him, and Whitebeard was keeping a close eye on the fight, ready to interfere if necessary. The Marine ship wasn't too large, meaning the crew wasn't either, meaning the fight would be quick. This proved correct when Marco finally took down the Captain, sending him flying back to his own ship.

As always, once the Captain was down, those who were still able to move were quick to begin retreating, carrying their wounded back to their own ship while the Whitebeards made sure they all got off the Moby one way or another. Ace, Sabo and Luffy all finished up fighting their own group of Marines, easily sending them all flying back to the Marine ship as well, scowls set on all of their faces as they did so.

Of course, the Marines had to taunt them, calling them monsters, demons or even devils, but that didn't do them any good but make the brothers angrier, which resulted in a more brutal beating. Honestly, it was like the Marines had no self-preservation. It was almost as bad as Luffy.

"Bastards," Ace muttered, arms crossed over his chest now as he glared at the quickly retreating Marine ship. Sabo shook his head and sighed, though shared the same thoughts and feelings as Ace did.

"Though they may be just that, at least we got to get a good fight in," Sabo said in an attempt at getting Ace to calm down before his anger grew too out of control. It wasn't that Aces anger was guaranteed to turn into a rage every time, but he was known to stew in his anger for quite some time if nothing was done about it, so it was best to calm him down as quickly as possible for both his own and Luffy's, best interests.

"Yeah! Ne, Ace, did you see that one guys face when I punched him?! It was all like-" Luffy stopped talking as he squished his own face up in an attempt to recreate the face he was talking about. Ace rolled his eyes while Sabo chuckled at the strange, but probably very accurate, face Luffy made.

"I wasn't watching your fight stupid, I was a bit preoccupied with my own." Ace said though he did seem to be calming down now.

"Oh, really? What face did your guys make? Were they as funny as mine?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"I guess they were pretty funny. Funnier then yours were, that's for sure." Ace said confidently.

"No way, didn't you see my guys?!" Luffy asked incredulously.

"I already said I didn't, remember?" Ace replied.

"Then how do you know?" Luffy asked.

"Cause I'm older so I know these things." Ace said with a shrug, as if it was obvious. Sabo sighed and shook his head at the argument he had known was going to happen from the start. Marco and Jozu were watching with fond looks, and Haruta was smiling as he walked over to Sabo, eyes drifting towards the two squabbling siblings.

"Is this a regular occurrence?" Haruta asked, watching as the two began butting heads, both trying to claim their Marines had made funnier faces.

"Sadly, yes. I was really hoping Ace would have grown out of it, or maybe even that Luffy wouldn't be so easy to get riled up." Sabo said as he pinched his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Haruta laughed, patting Sabo on the back in an attempt to comfort the blonde.

"Rubbers a stupid power anyway."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Oi! What have I said about this argument?!" Sabo shouted in annoyance as he pulled the two apart, causing even more of the crew to laugh at the trio's antics.

"But he started it!" Luffy whined, pointing to Ace who just crossed his arms again.

"Did not." Ace said calmly, only making Luffy more annoyed.

Of course, this only made Sabo more annoyed as he began dragging the two off to their room, the crew parting ways for them as they heard him begin lecturing the two.

"I think that's the most animated those three have been since they've been here," Namur said as he watched from a distance, taking the long way over to Whitebeards chair, not wanting to get in the way of Sabo's warpath.

"Gurarara, it seems Sabo's got quite a handle on those two." Whitebeard laughed, watching the three leave fondly. Marco shook his head at his fathers' words.

"At least they seem to be getting more comfortable around us, yoi," Marco said, many Commanders agreeing with him about that.

"Hey, what do you think, which one's better, rubber or fire?" Haruta asked, waggling his eyebrows and getting laughs from many.

"Don't let them hear you say that I'm sure Sabo wouldn't mind dragging you along for a lecture either if he found out you instigated another argument." Blenheim laughed.

"As long as it's not Marco, I don't think it could be all that bad," Haruta said with a shrug, immediately blanching when he heard Marco clear his throat beside him, forgetting the first Commander was there.

"Uh, gotta go!" He said hastily, running off and leaving Marco to shake his head in annoyance as everyone began laughing again, even Whitebeard.

"Troublesome family, yoi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> First things first: Learning a new language is hard, but the commanders and Whitebeard only learned a bare minimum of words and phrases, hence why they're able to have conversations already and read some of the taps the brothers use. They cant read every tap, because the brothers still want some privacy in their secret language, but they can read enough to give or read warnings.
> 
> Second thing: All the brothers' senses extend about roughly the same distance. How far Sabo can hear is about how far Ace can see and how far Luffy can smell. Sabo won't be able to hear much, more like mumbles than actual words, but he'd still hear things. The reason Luffy was able to smell so far, as mentioned, was because of the wind helping him.
> 
> Third: I feel like the brothers deserve a little bit of a break which is why I've had this chapter, and a couple before it, so calm and peaceful. Of course, there's always a calm before a storm, so big things will start happening again soon, but for now I wanted to show more of the brothers relaxing and bonding with the crew. They haven't had much time to do so with all that's happened to them after all.


	73. Overwhelming Emotions

"Come on Ace, you agreed to go to another session," Sabo said as he put away his journal. He'd had another nightmare, and per Whiskey's advice, he had written it down and changed the ending. Ace was scowling on the bed, arms and legs crossed, unmoving.

"Yeah, well now I don't want to." The eldest said stubbornly, trying to ignore the anxiety churning in his stomach.

"I know this isn't exactly fun, for any of us, but it could help. I'm going to go, and I won't force you to, but I think you should go as well." Sabo said as he stood from the desk. Luffy was hovering near the door, ready to go, though also clearly anxious about it as well. Truth be told, the blonde was just as anxious as his brothers, but he wanted to believe that Whiskey could help, and if sucking up that anxiety and going to these sessions helped, he'd do it.

That didn't exactly help when it came to Ace though.

The eldest seemed to be content with not moving an inch from his spot on the bed, arms crossed tightly over his chest and scowl set. The anxiety in the room was almost suffocating for Luffy, and he found himself inching the door open and slipping out, mindful that his brothers were too engrossed in their stare down to notice his leave.

The youngest of the three walked slowly down the hall, a bit unsure of himself. Sure, the idea to leave the room had seemed like a good one a few seconds ago, but now that he was actually acting on it, he found himself hesitating, his anxiety doubling.

He didn't stop though and instead continued down the hall until he was opening the door to the deck, stepping out into the familiar sunlight. It was immediately calming, though not calming enough. After not knowing if he would ever see the sunlight again for years, he found himself appreciating it every time he stepped into it.

Focusing his attention back to the deck he found that a few had already noticed his arrival, and with it, they also realized he was alone. It set him on edge, but once again, he tried ignoring the stares- many filled with confusion- and began walking towards Whitebeard, more subconsciously than anything. The giant Captain was someone he knew was a safe person to be near, someone who exuded so much warmth it could calm him down from even his worst nightmares and memories, so walking towards him now was almost instinctual, an attempt to calm his raging anxiety and terror.

He knew Whiskey could help, Sabo had said so himself, and he did want to try going to the sessions, but it didn't mean his anxiety was going to make it easy.

"Hello there, son. Where are your brothers?" Whitebeard asked as Luffy walked up to him. Luffy didn't answer right away, instead stretching his arms to grab onto the arm of Whitebeards chair and sitting beside the giant's arm before he did.

"In our room. They're nervous." Luffy said, shifting slightly. None of the other commanders were around except Marco who was watching and listening curiously.

"Nervous of what?" Whitebeard asked, his voice and emotions still calm, inadvertently calming Luffy even more.

"Talking to Whiskey. We wanna talk to her, but its kind of scary. I didn't like the feelings so I left, but I don't think they noticed that I did." Luffy said fiddling with his fingers and feeling a little bad now that he had left without saying anything. He knew his brothers would be worried once they noticed, but at the time he was only focused on getting away from the suffocating feelings.

"What makes the nurse scary to you?" Whitebeard asked, though not in a way that suggested he didn't know why, but more in a way that made Luffy think.

"Because... nurses and doctors always hurt us. But Whiskey hasn't, which is why I like her and want to talk to her, but what if she gets mean? Like the other doctors always did. They were always blue at first, but they got grey too." Luffy said, voice growing softer with every word. Whitebeard hummed as he listened, nodding.

"You won't know. Not unless you continue talking to her. However, if she should ever start to turn grey, you could always come tell me, or any of the Commanders, and we'll take care of it. You never have to worry about anyone hurting you three again. Not while you're here with us. You're safe here, son." Whitebeard said soothingly, all of Luffy's worries slowly drifting away, and he didn't know if it was because of the Captain's words or the warmth exuding from the giant. A smile blossomed on his face regardless and he nodded.

"Mm! Ne, Marco, can you walk with me to Whiskey?" Luffy asked, still smiling, and the first Commander smiled back, nodding.

"Of course, yoi. Come on, I think she's already waiting for you." Marco said, nodding towards the upper deck where Luffy could already smell the nurse.

"Bye! Thanks for talking to me!" Luffy said with a wave as he jumped off the chair. Whitebeard laughed and waved back.

"Goodbye son. I hope you have a good session with Whiskey," Whitebeard replied, watching the two walk off. Luffy felt much better about going to talk to the nurse now, smile still on his face as he walked beside Marco. There was still a small ball of worry and anxiousness, but it was easy to ignore now, especially now that he knew Whitebeard agreed to help should the nurse turn grey.

"I'll make sure no one bothers you two," Marco said as they finally reached the stairs to the upper deck. Luffy nodded, thanking the Commander like Sabo taught him too, and watched Marco turn into his Phoenix form, flying up to the crows nest where he would stay. The form amazed Luffy, but he forced himself not to take too long staring in awe and instead continued on toward the nurse.

It would be alright. Even if Sabo wasn't right here, he could still hear Luffy. If he needed help he could just call out to his brothers- or maybe even Marco or Whitebeard- they would surely help him.

With a new resolve, Luffy marched up the steps, finding the nurse quickly and giving her a hesitant smile, to which she returned with a warm gentle smile of her own.

"Hello Luffy, I'm glad you're here!" She greeted cheerily. Luffy nodded, sitting in front of the nurse as she shifted a few papers around before picking one up and putting it on her clipboard.

"Let's get started then, hm?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Why is this even a fight right now? I already said I wouldn't force you to go if you didn't want to!" Sabo nearly shouted, anger obvious as he spoke- or more accurately; _yelled_ \- to Ace. The eldest was no longer sitting on the bed and was instead standing, fists clenched at his sides.

"Yet it sounds a whole lot like you're trying to force me to go!" He responded, glaring at the blonde as he did. Sabo sighed in frustrated and shook his head.

"Fine. You don't want to go, I get it. Come on Luffy, lets-" Sabo cut himself off as he turned to look towards the door where Luffy had been standing, only to find that the boy was gone.

"Luffy?" He asked, paling slightly at the realization that their youngest brother was no longer in the room with them. All of the anger left Ace and Sabo as they realized this, both looking at each other with wide eyes before rushing out of their shared room.

"Damnit, when did he leave?" Ace asked as they looked up and down the hall, seeing no sign of their brother.

"I don't know! Do you think we influenced him and he stormed off?" Sabo asked in worry.

"I hope not. Knowing how he gets he might bite someone's hand off if they look at him funny." Ace muttered as they charged down the hallway towards the deck.

"He wouldn't have left without us otherwise, would he?" Ace asked almost as an afterthought. The trio were still getting used to being surrounded by so many people, ones that claimed they only wanted to help, so it would be surprising if Luffy had left on his own free will.

"I don't know, but he has been acting more like his old self lately," Sabo said, opening the door to the deck and stepping out. Ace followed, quickly scanning the deck for their brother.

"Do you see him?" Sabo asked, watching Aces face for any sign that he found Luffy.

"No. You hear him?" Ace asked, seeing no sign of Luffy on the main deck. Sabo took a second to listen for Luffy but stopped when he saw a blue flaming bird flying their way, something that also caught Ace's attention.

"Marco." Sabo greeted, trying to dispel his panic for a moment. The Commander shifted to his human form, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Luffy's talking with Whiskey right now." He said, both Ace and Sabo letting out relieved breaths, only to be filled with worry once again.

"Alone?" Ace asked, eyes drifting towards the upper deck where he was sure Luffy was now. Marco nodded.

"He came out a little while ago and spoke with Oyaji, yoi. He said he didn't like the feelings in your room so he left. After talking he decided he wanted to go talk to Whiskey so I walked him there and was keeping watch." Marco explained. Ace and Sabo both shared a look, still amazed that Luffy had done all of this without them. Sabo cleared his throat.

"Well, in that case, I guess I'll head over there too. You coming Ace?" Sabo asked. Ace merely nodded, not responding with words.

"Thank you, Marco," Sabo said, the man nodding to them before changing into his Phoenix form and flying back to the crows nest once more. Ace and Sabo both made their way over to the stairs of the upper deck and sat down, both catching glimpses of Luffy speaking with the nurse before they did.

"He actually went to talk to her without us." Ace said, though not in a hurt way. It was more of an awe.

"I can't believe it either," Sabo said, trying his best not to listen in to Luffy and Whiskey's conversation.

"That's a good thing though, right? That he didn't need us to go talk to her?" Ace asked.

"I guess so. Maybe these sessions really do help." Sabo said. The two went quiet after that, both still lost in their own thoughts.

"Hey, sorry about yelling at you earlier." Ace muttered a half-hour later, not looking at the blonde as he did. Sabo smiled at that, noticing that Ace was still horrible when it came to his emotions.

"I yelled too, so it's both our faults. Besides, I know you don't like the nurse, and I was kind of pressuring you to talk to her, so I'm sorry too." Sabo said with a shrug. Ace nodded but didn't say anything more. After another few minutes, Luffy finally finished up his session, smile on his face as he walked over to Ace and Sabo.

"Hey, guys! Are you gonna talk to Whiskey too?" Luffy asked, sitting beside them.

"Uh, well I am I think. How was your session?" Sabo asked, still not quite sure about this whole thing.

"It was good! Whiskeys nice, and I talked with Mr. Whitebeard, and he said if Whiskey ever starts getting grey I can tell him and he'll deal with it! He said we're safe here and no one's gonna hurt us anymore." Luffy said cheerily, kicking his feet as he did.

"Oh yeah? You'll have to tell me more after my session." Sabo said with a smile of his own, Luffy's happiness practically contagious.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed and nodded, watching Sabo get up and head to the nurse who was waiting patiently for him.

"So you like the sessions Lu?" Ace asked, eliciting more nods from Luffy.

"Mhm! Sometimes it's scary, cause we talk about stuff that happened at the facility, but Whiskeys nice. She doesn't make me talk if I don't wanna. Sometimes we talk about fun things too though, like today we talked about my favorite food! I told her it was alligator, cause that's what we used to have back in the jungle, and it was always the tastiest! Ne, Ace, remember that time-" As Luffy rambled Ace listened with a smile, nodding in the right places and laughing as Luffy brought up funny memories he'd all but forgotten about, like that time they pranked Dadan with the classic bucket of water on top of the door.

Ace was truly happy that Luffy seemed to be adjusting so well here; happy that after all this time, he was finally acting like his old self again. He almost found himself jealous that his youngest brother was able to put all of the pain and trauma that was the facility behind him while he was still stuck with the haunting memories and horrible feelings.

Of course, he knew it wasn't Luffy's fault, everyone got over trauma differently, and Luffy was a naturally happy person, able to bounce back from anything, so why would trauma be any different? That didn't change the feelings though, and Ace found himself thinking back to his talk with Whiskey about not being able to get a handle on his own emotions.

Maybe he should continue these sessions after all.

"Hey, Luffy, sorry about earlier. You know, when me and Sabo fought." Ace said, cutting Luffy off from his rambling, having moved on to a story when they dine and dashed.

"Huh? Oh, it's ok, you guys were just really nervous and stuff. I didn't like it so I left, but I'm not mad at you guys." Luffy said with a shrug as if it was no big deal.

"Still, we promised we would try not to fight, especially around you." Ace said, a bit of a flush on his face. He really wasn't the best at handling his emotions.

"Its not your fault. Bad feelings aren't fun to feel and they make you yell sometimes. Its alright." Luffy said, still completely nonchalant about it all. Ace smiled to himself and shook his head, taking a deep breath.

"You're a strange one, you know that Lu?" He asked, leaning back and looking at Luffy. The youngest tilted his head in confusion, eyebrows scrunched.

"Huh?" He asked, obviously not understanding. Ace laughed, shaking his head again and knocking Luffy's straw hat off his head.

"Nothing. Never mind." The eldest said. Luffy watched him for a minute before shrugging and smiling again, placing his hat back on his head.

"Anyway, and then the owner ran after us and started yelling for the guards, and we ran into that alley and I almost fell cause of that barrel that was tipped over, and-"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

After the brothers all had their sessions, as well as breakfast, they had decided to go sit with Whitebeard again. All of the Commanders were doing the same, talking to the giant Captain about updates with their divisions or missions that needed to be done.

The three listened quietly- well, Sabo listened. Ace and Luffy both got distracted soon after by clouds they decided looked like meat.

It was nice, to not have anything to do. Their chores were done, they finished their sessions, and they didn't have to worry about anything else for the rest of the day. It was still a strange feeling, to not have to do anything, not worry about the tests, not worry about the pain that would keep them awake at night.

It was almost too nice. Borderline strange. So of course, like always, something ruined it.

Luffy hadn't even noticed it was happening. One second he and his brothers were sitting peacefully with Whitebeard and the Commanders and the next, he felt the hot wash of anger suddenly flooding in him. Realistically, he knew that it wasn't him that was angry, after all, he had nothing to be angry about, but that didn't stop the feelings and thoughts that suddenly forced themselves into him.

He didn't even know who he was getting the feelings from, or why, he just knew that he wanted to scream, yell, shout at someone- or even nothing- and when he felt Sabo bump into him gently as he shifted, that anger exploded outward.

"Leave me alone!" Luffy shouted, shocking everyone within hearing range. Sabo and Ace both jumped in surprise at Luffy's suddenly very loud, very angry voice, and they both turned to look at him in confusion along with everyone else on deck.

"Luffy?" Ace asked hesitantly, not sure what was happening.

"Everyone needs to go away!" Luffy shouted again, standing abruptly, Ace and Sabo scrambling up as well. Suddenly, Sabo had an idea of what was happening and began trying to send calming feeling to Luffy, signaling to Ace to keep quiet, noticing the eldest had been about to speak. Luffy was breathing heavily, his fists clenched and face scrunched in anger.

"Its alright Lu, if you want, you can go to our room and calm down," Sabo said in an even, calming tone. Luffy was glaring harshly at everything and everyone but seemed to listen as he began stalking off to their shared room, everyone parting as he walked passed, not wanting to get in his way.

"What was that about?" Namur asked, everyone still shocked about what had happened. Ace, who had also caught on to what was happening, was still projecting as much calm as he could to his retreating brother, keeping an eye on him to make sure he made it to the hall where their room was without incident.

"Someone influenced him." Ace said, finally moving to look at the Commanders and Captain once his brother was out of sight.

"Influenced him? Like his emotions?" Haruta asked.

"Seems like it. Someone must have been pretty angry all of a sudden if Luffy didn't even notice until it was too late." Sabo said, scanning the deck to see if the person was here.

"So that's what happens when he's influenced by anger, yoi?" Marco asked, getting over his own shock at the normally quiet boy being so loud all of a sudden. Not to mention angry.

"Yes. Don't take any offense to his words though. When he gets like that, the smallest thing will set him off, in this case, me accidentally bumping into him." Sabo said with a sheepish smile.

"Its alright son, we understand. It's not his fault. I'm sure managing everyone's emotions all the time can be a difficult task." Whitebeard said with a calming smile.

"How do we calm him down?" Vista asked.

"Send him calm feelings." Ace said simply, still doing just that in case Luffy was having a difficult time calming down alone.

"How do we do that?" Fossa asked, cigar in mouth.

"Its a bit difficult to explain, and you don't know if you're doing it right unless you ask Luffy, but normally Ace and I just think about an emotion we want Luffy to feel too, happiness for example, and then we focus on feeling that emotion and nothing else. Luffy can constantly feel what others are feeling, there's no turning it off, so the more focused on one feeling you are, the stronger it'll be. Luffy will then feel that emotion and it can help him focus on calming down faster then if he tried on his own." Sabo said, trying to explain to the best of his ability. After all, he couldn't feel emotions like Luffy, so even he wasn't completely sure how it worked.

"I'm gonna go check on him. See if he's calming down." Ace said, turning and leaving, heading towards their room. Sabo nodded to him but turned his attention to the Commanders and Captain.

"How often does Luffy get influenced?" Blenheim asked in curiosity.

"It didn't used to happen often, but back then there wasn't much to do, so Luffy had an easier time blocking out others' emotions. Now that we're out, and around so many people, it's become a bit more difficult for him to block strong emotions. If you think about it, before, Luffy, Ace and I just sat in a cell all day. Nothing to do, nothing to distract ourselves with, nothing to think about. Not unless we wanted to think about testing, which was something we did everything we could to prevent." Sabo began explaining, everyone following along easily, some grumbling at the mention of the facility.

"Seeing as he was free to pay attention to anything else, Luffy was able to monitor feelings much easier, especially since there weren't too many people to block, but now, it's much harder to not feel everyone's emotions. He's not able to focus like before on just blocking them out, it takes too much concentration, so he's constantly feeling everyone else's feelings, and when one of them becomes stronger, it's harder to notice if he's not paying constant attention." Sabo finished. He still wasn't completely sure on how it all worked, Luffy was the one who felt these things, not him, but from what Luffy told him, it was the best explanation he could give.

"Is there any way to help?" Blamenco asked, many nodding along to the question. Sabo could tell that they wanted to help any way they could, or at least that's what it seemed like, and it made Sabo wonder- not for the first time- just how different these pirates were to the usual stereotypical pirates.

"I don't think so. You'd have to ask Luffy honestly, but I think its just something he's going to have to get adjusted to. Like when we got our new senses. They were overwhelming and a pain in the ass, but after a while, we grew accustomed to them and we don't really have to worry about them anymore. Hopefully, that's what will happen to Luffy and he'll be able to block emotions better, or at least gain a bit of resistance to others' emotions." Sabo said.

At this point, Sabo heard a familiar footfall and turned to watch as his brothers both stepped back out onto the deck, everyone's eyes on them as they did.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Luffy could feel the anger coursing through him, found that any little thing seemed to be a much bigger issue than it really was. The wind was blowing too hard, his hair kept brushing his face and it annoyed the hell out of him, that seagull was making too much noise, and most of all, there were too many damn eyes on him.

His face was turned down in a scowl as he stomped across the deck, and before he knew it he was opening the door and marching down the hall to his room.

Why did everything have to be so annoying? Why did he have to be so angry? Wait... why was he angry anyways?

As he opened the door to his room, he remembered Ace and Sabo both jumping away from him in shock after he'd yelled. Why had he yelled? Why was he angry again? That previous anger was quickly subsiding, turning into confusion as he tried to figure out just what had set him off, what could have happened to make him angry in the first place?

One second he was sitting on the deck with his brothers, listening to the Commanders talk to Whitebeard, and the next thing he knew he was flying into a burning rage.

Racking his brain, Luffy sat down on the bed and tried desperately to figure out what had happened. He tilted his head back and forth, his face slowly turning red as he thought.

He was snapped out of it when the door opened and Ace walked in a bit cautiously, peeking in first before fully entering the room.

"You so angry your face is red, or are you just thinking too hard again?" He asked, still cautious as he did, but a hint of a smile on his face. Luffy let out the breath he was holding and turned his attention to Ace.

"What happened?" Luffy asked, still completely confused.

"You don't know? Sabo and I assumed you got influenced by someone." Ace said with a raised eyebrow, walking across the room and sitting on the bed beside the youngest brother.

"I did? I don't remember any strong feelings... I was fine, and then I was just really angry." Luffy said, finding that it seemed more and more plausible that someone had influenced him. There were constantly so many feelings around him that he hadn't even noticed someone was influencing him.

"Sounds like you were influenced to me. Besides, you don't normally yell like that unless you're really pissed, and unless you've been holding a grudge against Sabo about something, I'm pretty sure that's what happened." Ace said, lightly bumping shoulders with his brother.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, still not completely sure, but not having any better ideas.

"You didn't notice anyone getting really angry?" Ace asked. Luffy replied with a shake of his head, looking to the floor.

"No, there are so many feelings all the time, I didn't notice any of them getting stronger." The boy said. It was quiet a minute before Ace responded.

"Ah, well, that's alright, I know its probably hard to control it all the time. It's not like there's a switch to turn it off." He said, messing Luffy's hair and smiling reassuringly to him. Luffy gave a small smile back and nodded.

"You wanna head back out? Sabo's still out there explaining what happened." Ace said, nodding toward the door. Luffy frowned again but nodded. He wondered if anyone was mad at him for yelling like that. He hadn't meant to do it, but he knew the pirates might not really understand that. After all, normal people didn't feel other people's emotions like he did.

"Hey, don't worry, no one's mad- at least, I don't think they are. Well, anyway, even if they are, Sabo and I aren't, and that's what really matters. If the others don't understand, its not your fault." Ace said, a hint of a frown on his face. Luffy nodded again but didn't respond, standing up and heading to the door instead. He heard Ace sigh behind him, but stand as well, walking up beside him and grabbing his hand, squeezing it a bit.

"Hey, Lu, listen, its not your fault. Got it? You cant control these things and its not like you asked or wanted this in the first place. If they can't understand that, who cares? Sometimes people might not care one way or another if you can control it or not, they might be angry with you, but you don't need those kinds of people. Sabo and I will never be mad at you for something you can't control. We won't leave you alone." Ace said, trying his best to comfort his brother. He knew he wasn't the best when it came to comforting and the gooey types of feelings, but he hoped he did well enough that Luffy didn't feel bad. It seemed it worked, at least somewhat, because Luffy gave him a smile and nodded, hugging him tightly. Ace smiled and hugged back for a second before clearing his throat, feeling his face start to flush.

"Alright, alright, let's go save Sabo, yeah?" He asked, ruffling Luffy's hair one more time and opening the door. Luffy nodded, looking much more upbeat than before as he grabbed Ace's hand again, the two of them heading back out to the deck. Of course, once they reached the deck, all eyes were once again, as always, on them, but by now they'd become professionals at ignoring the stares and headed straight for where they knew their brother was.

The blonde was already looking their way as they walked towards him, and Luffy's smile brightened even more at the positive feelings Luffy felt being sent his way. He also noticed that the Commanders seemed to be happy to see him too, and he wondered if Sabo taught them how to send him emotions because he could feel the projections of calmness coming from them, even the Captain. It was a nice feeling, and he was even happier that there didn't seem to be any anger towards his outburst earlier.

"Hey Luffy, feeling better?" Izo asked gently, a smile on his painted face.

"Mhm! Sorry for yelling at you guys, I didn't mean it." Luffy apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he did.

"Ah, that? It was no big deal. We know it must be difficult to handle everyone's feelings all the time so don't worry about it!" Thatch said, shrugging it off.

And that was that. No one was mad, no one expected anything from him, no one wanted an explanation, nothing.

It made Luffy immensely happy. He wondered if it would always be like this, to have everyone be so understanding. So nice. He hoped it stayed like this forever.

If it did, he would probably be the happiest teen in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Welcome back everyone! As you can see, this chapter was geared very heavily towards emotions, specifically Ace and Luffys, but more-so Luffy than Ace. I wanted to emphasize the change that they're going through and how different it is to the facility for them emotionally. With Luffy surrounded by hundreds of people at all time, he cant exactly filter through every emotion as easily as he could back in the facility when there were only a few dozen people.
> 
> As for Ace, hes always had problems with controlling his emotions, so going out of his comfort zone and talking with Whiskey would make him feel a lot of things that would all ultimately turn to anger. When Ace doesn't know how to feel about something, or is feeling too much of something, he turns those emotions into anger instead as a way of coping with them. Of course, this isn't healthy and only goes to show that he needs just as much help from Whiskey as Sabo and Luffy do.


	74. A Dip in the Water

"Ne, Sabo, how do you spell waiting?" Luffy asked, face scrunched in thought, pen in hand as he stared at his journal. Sabo, who sat on the bed with his own journal, didn't even look up from his writing.

"Sound it out Lu. What do you think?" He asked.

"Mm... Way... W... A... waid... D?" Luffy asked, looking over to the blonde who shook his head.

"No, it sounds like a D sound, but it's not. Theres also a letter before that, a silent one that helps the A make the long A sound." Sabo explained, still writing as he did.

"Oh... W-A... I?" Luffy guessed, and Sabo nodded to that.

"W-A-I-T" Another nod.

"I-N-G?"

"Good job Lu, that's right," Sabo said, pausing his writing to smile at the smallest. Luffy beamed back before turning back to his journal and scribbling the word down. Ace, who was also writing, smiled to himself at Luffy's enthusiasm. They'd all had nightmares that night so they were writing them down with different endings. Occasionally he or Luffy had trouble with a word and would ask Sabo for clarification, but other then that, it was quiet in the room.

Eventually, one by one, they finished their writing and decided they would head to breakfast. Sabo listened to those inside the galley chat happily amongst each other, plates and silverware clinking alongside their words.

When the three reached the galley they were quick to head to the commanders' table, Thatch placing their food in front of them.

"Just in time!" Thatch said with a smile as he put the plates down, smiling to them.

"Seems so," Sabo replied with a smile. Luffy grinned to the chef as well, thanking him before chowing down, Ace doing the same beside him.

The creeping of darkness made Luffy pause momentarily, gaining more than a few curious looks, but Luffy ignored it, allowing Whitebeards warmth to overpower the sickening feelings as he ate.

"Teach is back," Luffy said simply, the commanders all stopping in their conversations to listen.

"He is? I don't think he even sent word he was nearby." Jozu said with a frown. Ever since the brothers warned them about the man they'd been picking up on more and more red flags from the bearded man.

"'Course he didn't." Ace muttered darkly, earning an elbow from Sabo. After all, the Commanders still might be holding out hope that Teach wasn't a bad guy, so insulting him in front of them would do them no good except possibly make the Commanders mad.

"He's almost at the Moby. A couple minutes." Luffy said calmly, happy he was closeby Whitebeard.

"Thank you for the information son," Whitebeard said, nodding to Luffy who smiled back before returning to eating, though at a significantly slower pace. Now that the brothers knew Teach would be here, they didn't want to finish too soon in case they were the only ones out on deck. They didn't want to give Teach the chance to be alone with them no matter what.

Eventually, they finished at the same time Fossa and Kingdew did, all of them heading out to the deck after they sent their plates back to the kitchen. The Commanders had all picked up on the fact that the brothers would wait for one of them to go with them to the deck whenever Teach was there, and they didn't mind having them tag along with them. It gave them a chance to better get to know them.

The group headed out to the deck, and rather than going off somewhere in the belly of the Moby, Kingdew, and Fossa decided to stay out on deck with the brothers, all of them heading towards the railing the trio usually sat on and sitting there, talking with each other.

They sat and talked like this until more and more people filled the deck. At that point Kingdew and Fossa both had to go do work for their division, saying their goodbyes to the brothers. They sat there quietly for a moment before Sabo remembered this morning.

"Why don't I go get some books I picked up on the last island. I can help you two with your writing and spelling." Sabo said. Ace and Luffy looked at each other before shrugging.

"Sure." They said. Sabo nodded and headed off, telling them not to cause any trouble in the few minutes he'd be gone. As the two waited they watched the clouds, one of their favorite pastimes. They were interrupted when Thatch came over though.

"Hey you two, where's Sabo?" The pompadoured man asked, sitting beside Ace.

"He went to go get some books." Ace said nodding toward the door that led to their room.

"Books? What for?" Thatch asked, curious. It wasn't that he thought the brothers reading was weird, it was something he felt Sabo would actually do to pass time, but he hadn't seen them reading since they'd been here. He hadn't even known they _could_ read. After all, they'd practically grown up in the facility.

"He's gonna help us with our spelling! Sabo's a good teacher, he taught us how to read and write." Luffy said with a smile. Thatch smiled back.

"Oh yeah? I bet he is, he seems pretty smart." Thatch said honestly. The brothers did use the word 'Smart' for Sabo's name in their silent language after all.

"He is! He's read a lot of books so he knows a lot of different things. He knew that this one plant was bad one time just by looking at it." Luffy said, remembering back to that memory.

"To be fair, a lot of people know to stay away from poison ivy, Lu," Sabo said as he returned, books, paper, and pens in hand. He handed his brothers some paper and pens before sitting with them.

"Yeah, but I didn't! Besides, you know a lot of other stuff too." Luffy said as he took his pen and paper.

"Alright, I get it. Here, hold it like this." Sabo said, adjusting the way Luffy was holding the pen.

"Pens are harder to hold then chalk," Luffy mumbled as he adjusted his hold. Ace watched out of the corner of his eye how Sabo adjusted Luffys hold and did the same himself, finding it did feel better than how he had been holding it before. Thatch watched the whole thing with a smile.

"Its because they're bigger and have more weight. Our chalk was small and light." Sabo said, sitting back once he was satisfied with how his brother was holding the pen.

"So you taught them everything from scratch then?" Thatch asked, watching as the blonde opened one of the books.

"That's right. From the alphabet to grammar and punctuation." He said with a smile, remembering how much of a struggle it was.

"Impressive, yoi," Marco said as he joined the group, sitting with them as well.

"It wasn't too bad. There wasn't much else to do so it was easy to get these two to focus," Sabo said with a shrug, finding the page he wanted.

"Remember to sound it out. Pronunciation." Sabo said to Ace and Luffy. The two nodded, their tongues immediately sticking out in concentration as they focused on figuring out how to spell the word.

"How did you learn to read and write? You go to school?" Thatch asked curiously, wondering how only one of the brothers seemed to know.

"Ah, sort of. I kind of uh, used to be a noble. I didn't agree with their way of thinking through and ran away. That's how I met Ace, and then Luffy eventually showed up." Sabo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. The two commanders were surprised momentarily.

"A noble, huh? Guess the top hat makes sense then." Thatch said with a smile. Sabo chuckled a bit at that.

"Didn't agree with their thinking, but I didn't exactly mind the fashion. Although, some of it can be a bit... _eccentric_." Sabo said, thinking back to some of the crazier styles he'd seen.

"You've got that right. One time I saw this woman wearing this huge dress, like, _huge_. It took up the whole path!" Thatch said, spreading his arms out in an attempt to show just how big the dress was.

"Almost Lu, that's actually a C, not an S. Same for you Ace. Next word is accommodate." Sabo said, turning his attention momentarily to his brothers.

"They've got some pretty good handwriting." Marco admired, watching as Ace and Luffy wrote neatly along the paper.

"It wasn't always like that. Aces sucked, and Luffy's was like chicken scratch when they first started. I wasted too much chalk drawing lines for them to write inside." Sabo said with a sigh.

"Hey, it's not our fault, that floor was all bumpy!" Ace said indignantly.

"Yeah!" Luffy piped in, but more as if he was only doing it to do it.

"Ace, bumps don't make you cross your t's across the whole word," Sabo said, making the eldest huff.

"Well, Luffy kept nudging me and made my hand slip." He said.

"Yeah!" Luffy said making them all look at him. He blinked before grinning and returning to his word.

"Sure. Anyways, you just needed another C here Ace, and the same for you Luffy, except theres two m's, too." Sabo said, correcting their words again before continuing on.

"Next word is Wednesday," Sabo said, the two beginning to write once more.

"What made you want to do this again?" Thatch asked, not having seen them do this before.

"Whiskeys having us do some writing, and these two use me as their personal dictionary every time they can't spell something so I thought it'd be a good idea to brush up their skills and help them with a few more words. Its been a while since we've written anything." Sabo said, trying to remember how long ago it was that they had any lessons.

"Oh! Can we play hangman later?" Luffy asked with a smile.

"Sure. You wanna play too Ace?" Sabo asked. The eldest nodded, not looking up from his writing.

"Count me in! It's been a long time since I've played that! Ne, Marco, you in?" Thatch asked, nudging the Commander. Marco rolled his eyes.

"You can't include yourself, Thatch. Maybe they didn't want you to join," Marco said, making Thatch gasp.

"What? No way, everyone loves playing games with me!" Thatch said dramatically. Marco shook his head and Sabo smiled.

"You two are free to join. The more the merrier." Sabo said as he corrected Ace and Luffy's spelling.

"See, they don't mind!" Thatch said, pointing to them.

"The next word is onomatopoeia," Sabo said with a grin. Ace flashed him a glare at the word.

"Jerk." He said simply, racking his brain in an attempt to remember how to spell the word.

"Ono-what-oh-mia?" Luffy asked in confusion, Thatch looking equally confused.

"On-oh-mon-oh-pee-ah." Sabo corrected, over-enunciating the word.

"What's that mean?" Thatch asked, making Aces head shoot up, eyes wide.

"See! It's not a word, I told you!" He said, pointing to Thatch as he did, only making the poor chef even more confused. Sabo and Marco both smiled, holding back laughter.

"Just because everyone doesn't know the definition doesn't mean its not a word Ace. It's a word that describes other words that sound like noises. For example buzz, or sizzle." Sabo explained, the chef listening with interest.

"Huh, I didn't know that was a word." Thatch said, Ace still muttering about Sabo making things up. Sabo made the corrections before telling them the next word, anonymous.

Sabo continued to give them new words, all while talking with Thatch and Marco, before they eventually moved on to hangman, a few of the other commanders joining in as well. It was a good time overall, but eventually, lunch was beginning and they all headed into the galley, Sabo making a quick stop with his brothers to drop off their books, paper, and pens.

Lunch was peaceful despite Teach being present. The trio ate and did their best to ignore the man, which was easier said than done when they could practically feel his slimy stare on their backs the entire meal. It made them eager to finish, but they didn't dare finish faster than any of the commanders.

Finally, though, they were leaving with Haruta and Izo. They spent some time with the two, teaching them some more taps that they hadn't gotten down yet, but eventually, they parted ways too. At this point Luffy wanted to go look at the figurehead, claiming he hadn't really had a good chance to do so yet, so the three of them headed to the upper deck.

"Remember Luffy, the figurehead is probably wet and slippery, so no climbing on it, got it?" Sabo said, grabbing Luffy's shoulder and stopping him from doing just that. Luffy pouted.

"But it's so big and cool!" He whined, gesturing to it and giving him a puppy-eyed look. Ace snickered behind Luffy and Sabo frowned.

"No Luffy. Knowing you, you'd fall in," Sabo said firmly, only making Luffy pout even more.

"Meanie," Luffy muttered but did as told and didn't attempt climbing on it.

"Knowing Luffy he'd manage to fall in whether it was slippery or not." Ace said as he looked at the figurehead.

"Which is exactly why he's not going to be climbing on it at all." Sabo reiterated.

"Look at it though, it's even got a face!" Luffy said, Sabo and Ace both turning to look where Luffy was leaning over the railing to get a better look at the figurehead. Sabo's eyes widened at how far over the railing Luffy was hanging and moved to pull him back.

"Luffy, no hanging over the railing either!" Sabo chastised as he rushed over.

"But Sabo look, its got teeth too!" Luffy said, pointing at said teeth and looking at the blonde. Ace was laughing where he stood, unbothered by Luffy's antics.

"Yes, I saw when we were on islands Luffy, not by dangling over raili-" Sabo was cut off when Luffy's feet went from barely touching the deck to not being on the deck at all. Luffy's face, which had been wearing a bright smile, suddenly turned into a shocked one, and Sabo rushed even faster forward in an attempt to catch his brother before he fell over the railing completely. Ace, who had been laughing, immediately stopped and ran forward to help.

Sabo just barely missed grabbing Luffy's shirt, but Ace managed to grab one of Luffy's outstretched hands. However, he lost his footing and Luffy's extra weight put him off balance, which in turn made him tip over the railing as well.

"Damnit!" Ace cursed as he and Luffy were both falling off the boat and into the water. Luffy tried his best to stretch his arm back towards the railing, but then he was in the water and his arm was going limp.

There was a splash as both Luffy and Ace fell in, sinking quickly as they both fought the instinct of their devil fruits telling them they couldn't swim. After a few seconds, Ace was able to overpower that instinct and started kicking his feet in an attempt to swim to the surface. He had let go of Luffy's hand in the time he had been momentarily paralyzed, but he could see his brother swimming upwards as well a few feet away.

They both reached the surface at the same time, gasping for air and coughing a bit.

"Damnit Luffy, stop proving Sabo right all the time!" Ace shouted to his brother. There was no time for Luffy to respond as they both noticed a wave heading their way. They both took in gulps of air just in time for the wave to swallow them once again. Now underwater, it was hard for the two to figure out which way was up, but eventually, they were able to figure out which way to swim, both reaching the surface again.

"Sorry, but look, the figurehead is so cool!" Luffy said as he looked at the Mobys figurehead, having a much better view in the water. Ace sighed but was once again stopped from responding as another wave came and swallowed them.

Eventually, they were reaching the surface again, heaving in as much air as possible.

"You still good, Lu?" Ace asked in between breaths, starting to feel the effects the ocean was trying to have on him.

"Mhm..." Luffy hummed, and Ace could see the sluggish way his eyes closed, his own not much better.

"Just hang in there, I'm sure they're almost here." Ace said in an attempt to keep the youngest calm, getting a bit worried himself. He didn't know how long they'd been in the water, but he guessed by how draining the ocean was becoming that it had at least been three minutes. Another minute or two and they would start sinking like rocks.

He tried not to think about that.

He focused instead on the fact that the ocean was freezing and his teeth were beginning to chatter. Luffy's lips were starting to look a bit blue too.

Another wave took them under.

He wished the doctors had made them attempt swimming too because at least they would be able to get to the Moby themselves instead of staying there stranded. It took effort to just tread water, much less swim somewhere.

Suddenly Namur was in front of him, shocking him slightly.

"You alright?" He asked, and Ace could only manage a nod, still breathing heavily.

"Just hang on, I'll get you back to the Moby. Sabo's got Luffy." Namur said, and Ace turned to see his brother's blonde mop of hair helping Luffy onto his back, already heading back toward the Moby as well. Ace nodded again and held on around the fishman's neck, allowing him to take him back to the Moby.

A rope ladder was sent down for them and Ace continued hanging on as Namur carried him up, feeling his energy slowly returning as he did. Finally, they were on the deck, a crowd of people there watching them, and Ace let go of Namur, wiping the hair from his face.

"Freaking hate water." He muttered, trying to ignore the familiar feeling that reminded him of tests at the facility.

"Then stop falling in it," Sabo responded as he climbed over the railing, Luffy climbing off his back and shaking the water from his head like a dog.

"It's not my fault, Luffy pulled me in." Ace said with a scowl.

"Yeah yeah, come on, we need to change. Thank you for the help Namur." Sabo said to the Fishman who waved off the thanks.

"It was no problem. I don't mind the occasional swim." He said with a smile.

Sabo smiled and nodded before dragging his brothers off, lecturing Luffy about listening to him and being more careful.


	75. Being Brothers

A week later, the brothers were finding that life on the Moby Dick was easier then they thought life for them ever could be. As the days passed by it was easy to get themselves lost in the easy routine that their life was becoming, found themselves becoming more and more comfortable around everyone, and even began making friends with more crew members then just the Commanders and Whitebeard.

Of course, not all of the week had been good. They had had a bad day, coincidentally on the day they were supposed to have a session with Whiskey. The next day they found her and told her that, even though they had missed a day, they still wanted to do the sessions. They'd had the session that day instead and told her all about what their bad days were, explained that they stayed in their room both because they hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, as well as the fact that they were much more easy to put into a panic when they were in that state.

She understood, and they found themselves liking the nurse even more. Sessions weren't as nerve-wracking to go to anymore, though there was still the usual anxiety that they normally felt when they thought about talking to nurses.

They had one more session after that, and they went without any issue. They were finding that talking with Whiskey seemed to actually be helping, if only a little. It was becoming easier to talk to her, and even the thought of other nurses and doctors didn't scare them as much as it used to. She taught them different ways to cope with their scary memories and thoughts and helped them better understand what they were feeling and why they were feeling it.

It was nice, to finally be able to explain why they were so scared of things. Sure, they always had a reason, the facility, and it was true that it was because of the facility that they were feeling these things, but it was also because they allowed themselves to feel that way. They didn't stop themselves from feeling scared whenever they saw a nurse. They allowed themselves to be scared, allowed that fear to protect them, keep them from getting close to the nurse, and now that they knew that, it made it easier to stop those feelings.

Ace also found that the nurse was helping him deal with his own emotions when it came to how he normally functioned. Even before the facility, he had issues with his feelings and how he handled other people's emotions. Whiskey was helping him figure out and deal with it at the same time that she was helping him deal with all the trauma the facility left him with.

Even with all of this said though, they still weren't 'fixed'. They still had constant nightmares, they still felt a familiar terror when too many eyes were on them or when they passed by nurses in the halls. It was especially bad when they watched the nurses give Whitebeard medicine or shots, but still, there was progress.

Whiskey taught them to be mindful that, even though it seemed like not much was changing, they had to keep in mind that they were still making progress. Sure it wasn't a lot, but no one got 'fixed' right away. It was a slow, hard process, and you needed to celebrate the times when you moved forward in your healing. It's like a broken leg. You cant walk on it the day after seeing the doctor. It takes time to heal, and some of that healing you have to do yourself. Even once its healed, you have to get used to using that leg again, get used to walking on it and relying on it. It's not always a fast process, and it takes time, but eventually, you can use that leg the way you used to.

Another thing that happened during the week was that Teach had gone on yet another mission. Whitebeard said he seemed to be volunteering for more and more missions whenever they popped up and seeing as the brothers didn't want him anywhere onboard they were alright with him taking those missions. Everyone was a bit curious as to what he could be doing during these missions, because sometimes he arrived back at the Moby much earlier than expected, or much later, but it didn't seem to be anything concerning so they said nothing and allowed it. Teach being away was always a good thing, but his unpredictable appearances were unnerving in a way that reminded them all too much of Haru.

They were doing their best to enjoy the time he was gone though. He was supposed to be back in three days, but again, that was only a general time frame for him. Really, he could come back any day now.

Pushing the unnerved feelings away was difficult, but they were able to do it without too much difficulty. They were able to go about their days relatively happily, doing small things to keep their minds off of it, like Sabo teaching Ace and Luffy how to spell, or helping out more around the ship by doing chores they weren't even assigned. It kept them busy, but more importantly, distracted.

Which is what they were doing at that moment.

Rather than sitting and lounging on the deck, the brothers were helping the fourteenth division clean it instead. Luffy was, per usual, being kept a close eye on as he dipped his mop in the bucket and slipped all around as he swabbed. Ace and Sabo were mindful to stay near him the entire time, not wanting him to get too close to the railing in case he slipped and fell off the boat again.

They'd rather avoid any more unnecessary dips in the water.

Luffy was having a great time as he hummed and occasionally sang a horrible, off-tune song of his own creation. No one had the heart to tell him to stop, even if it felt like their ears were going to start bleeding any second now. The boy danced around, effectively cleaning every bit of deck that he danced past. Ace and Sabo had a difficult time keeping up with him but were able to do so without too much issue as long as they avoided their brother's occasional swinging arms.

"He's like a whirlwind," Jiru said with a smile as he watched the boy continue to sing and flail around.

"You've got that right." Ace muttered as he ducked under yet another arm, this time the one holding the mop. Because of this, his back got wet when the wet mop dripped on him.

"Oi, Luffy, the mop stays on the deck, remember?" Ace called, stopping Luffy momentarily in his song as he turned to look at Ace, blinking owlishly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" He apologized with a smile before returning to his song as if he hadn't been interrupted. Ace shook his head but smiled, happy to see Luffy so joyful.

"A happy Luffy is hard to pin down, that's for sure," Sabo said to Jiru as he dipped his mop in a bucket they were passing, Ace doing the same.

"Thanks for helping out, by the way. Usually it takes four warnings and the threat of watch duty to make my division get off their asses and swab," Jiru said, gesturing to the pirates that were actually doing their jobs for once, all with various levels of smiles on their faces as they chatted amongst each other.

"Its no problem. We needed something to do and thought we would help out. Luffy seems to enjoy swabbing anyway, and its one of the only chores he can manage to do without too much of a problem. Speaking of. Ace, he's gonna fall." Sabo said, not bothering to attempt saving their brother. Ace, who was closer, immediately shifted towards Luffy and caught their rubbery brother as he slipped, arms and mop flinging upwards as he did.

"Careful Lu." Ace reprimanded lightly before sending the boy off again, like a wind-up toy that had been rewound.

"How'd you know he was gonna fall?" Jiru asked in confusion, watching Luffy twirl off again singing about islands in the North.

"I heard him step in a puddle, and seeing as he's obviously not paying much attention and is spinning around, anytime he's stepped in a puddle he's fallen," Sabo said as he finished up swabbing his section of the deck.

"Impressive." Jiru complimented. He and Sabo talked for another few minutes, both keeping a close eye on Luffy while Ace chased him around the deck. Occasionally Sabo warned Ace that Luffy was going to fall off, but other than that there wasn't much issue.

Eventually, the entire deck was done and everyone was putting their mops away and dumping their buckets. Luffy finally finished singing his song and went to put his and Aces mops away as well while Ace dumped their buckets, still not trusting Luffy anywhere near the railing. Sabo did the same, dumping his bucket and putting away his own mop after saying goodbye to Jiru, before heading over to Ace and Luffy.

"Have fun Lu?" Sabo asked, ruffling the boys here.

"Mm! I like doing things outside, its more fun than being inside." Luffy said, looking up to the sky and basking in the sunlight. Sabo was ready to respond but was distracted when he heard one of the men in the crow's nest come down to tell Whitebeard that he spotted pirates heading their way.

"Yeah, well why don't we go sit by Whitebeard?" Sabo asked, steering his brothers towards the giant Captain.

"Sure, Mr. Whitebeard's really nice! Ne, Sabo, do you think he'll tell us a story?" Luffy asked, obviously still happy if the bounce in his step was anything to go on.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, but I don't think he'll be able to get very far," Sabo said, earning a few confused looks.

"What do you mean? Did you hear something?" Ace asked as he looked towards the Captain, not seeing anything off, only one of the crew mates talking to him.

"Not much, but it sounds like we're going to have some visitors soon," Sabo said as he also looked in the direction of where Whitebeard was, though without Aces supervision he wasn't able to make out much more than the giant Captain himself.

"Nice or bad?" Luffy asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Don't know yet. They're pirates and they're heading this way. From the sounds of it its another group of rookies just entering the New World so most likely bad." Sabo said, steering Luffy away from a particularly wet spot on the deck. Thanks to the sun the deck was beginning to dry but there were still spots with puddles thanks to Luffy's dancing that were taking a bit longer to dry.

"Oh! Do we get to fight them?!" Luffy asked cheerfully, grin widening even more if possible.

"Maybe Luffy, but that's why we're going to Whitebeard. Seeing as you can barely walk to the Captain without falling I think it would be safer for everyone if you stayed close to him if we do fight. We don't need you falling in the middle of a fight and getting hurt." Sabo said, Ace nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is for you to slip right into a guy holding a sword." Ace said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"But that would be so fun! I wouldn't even have to move my legs!" Luffy said, imitating how he would slide up to an enemy, Sabo, and Ace both vetoing the idea immediately by crossing their arms in an X-shape.

"Nope. No way." Ace said, shaking his head again.

"Aww, why not?" Luffy whined.

"We just told you why Luffy. No slipping into enemies, no matter how fun or how cool you think it'll look." Sabo said as they finally reached Whitebeard.

"What's this about slipping into enemies?" Atmos asked curiously, one eyebrow raised.

"Tell 'em Atmos! You think sliding towards an enemy would be fun right? And it would look so cool, I would slide up to 'em and then punch 'em and they wouldn't even see it coming!" Luffy said, once again imitating his slide and punch, all while everyone watched with amused expressions.

"Until one of them has a sword and pokes you." Ace said, using a bit of haki on his fingertip and poking Luffy in the side who flinched away.

"Ow. Meanie." Luffy said, rubbing his side and pouting to Ace who merely rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Luffy, but I think I have to agree with your brothers. It'd be best if you didn't try that." Atmos said with a reluctant smile. Luffy continued pouting, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fine. But do I still get to fight people?" Luffy asked, looking at Whitebeard now who had been watching silently with a smile.

"If it turns out that we're fighting, then, by all means, you're welcome to join, son," Whitebeard said, not even questioning how the brothers knew a fight was coming, having a feeling he knew the answer. Luffy's pout was erased and replaced with another smile.

"Yosh! Ace, Sabo, if I cant slide up to an enemy can I swing to 'em instead?" Luffy asked, causing Sabo and Ace to groan while the Commanders and Captains laughed.

Time passed as Luffy tried to convince his brothers how swinging was better than sliding anyways and that they had no reason to stop him from doing it because they didn't have rubber arms so they didn't know how cool and fun it would be. The argument continued to go in circles while the commanders and Whitebeard all watched in amusement, wondering if it would ever end.

They didn't have a chance to find out if it would end naturally though because they were warned that the pirate ship was now within firing distance and they didn't seem to be friendly. This stopped the brothers' argument immediately as they spun to look at the now much closer pirate ship beside the Moby.

"Yeah, definitely not friendly," Sabo said, hearing everything they were talking about.

"What are they saying, son?" Whitebeard asked. Sabo was quiet a moment as he listened before responding.

"Mostly its a lot of bravado, how they're stronger and can take us easy, and they're also saying that the main focus is to get Ace, Luffy, and I's bounties so they can't kill us," Sabo repeated, a twinge of anger bubbling inside him at the words, knowing Ace felt the same way. Ever since the marines put out their wanted posters more and more marines and pirates had been attempting to collect on their bounty, all in the name of justice, or greed.

"In that case, everyone prepare for battle," Whitebeard announced, everyone roaring in agreement and raising their weapons. It took another few minutes until the pirate ship was close enough to actually engage in a battle, but once it was, planks were being placed down and pirates were boarding both ships. The trio stayed by Whitebeard, waiting until some of the stronger, or luckier, pirates made their way onto the Moby before attacking.

Once they did though, they flew into action. Luffy, who had been vibrating excitedly, immediately stretched his arm upwards, grabbing onto the rigging, and before Ace or Sabo could stop him, he swung himself forward into the fray, using his momentum and air to kick a row of pirates down at once like dominos.

"See! I told you it would work!" Luffy called as he let go, landing next to the pirates he had knocked down and yelling to Ace and Sabo who both facepalmed.

"You idiot!" Ace shouted, running over to Luffy and punching one of the pirates Luffy had knocked down who had been getting back up, sword in hand.

"At least make sure they're actually down before bragging about it!" Ace said, hitting Luffy on the head with some haki to make a point. Luffy pouted, but before he could start another fight Sabo pushed both their heads down and pushed himself upwards at the same time, grabbing his pipe off his back and smashing it on another approaching pirate.

"Could you two argue after the battles over?" Sabo asked, glaring at the two bickering brothers.

"He started it!" Luffy and Ace said in unison as they pointed to each other.

"I didn't ask who started it-! You know what, nevermind, go ahead and fight with each other, more fun for me then." Sabo said, turning and running towards the oncoming enemy pirates.

"What?!" Luffy shouted, running after the blonde.

"No fair, leave some for me!" Ace called as he chased his brothers.

"Yeah, me too!" Luffy shouted.

Meanwhile, the Commanders could only watch in both amazement and amusement.

"They sure are becoming a lively bunch, aren't they?" Blamenco asked as they watched Luffy narrowly avoid a sword swipe, punching the man who attacked him in retaliation.

"They sure are, yoi." Marco agreed with a smile.

"I'm glad. I was wondering how long it would take for those three to finally open up." Whitebeard said fondly, taking a sip from his mug.

"They've definitely come a long way from where they started," Izo said, hands hidden in his sleeves, a smile on his face as he watched the trio take down pirate after pirate effortlessly, always watching each others' backs.

"That they have my son. That they have." Whitebeard agreed.

The battle was quick and easy, only a few on their side having gotten injured. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were still busy finishing an argument they'd started during the fight, having changed topics throughout the entire thing until now where they were arguing whether Luffy should be allowed to jump out of a crows nest and do a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy. Ace and Sabo, of course, vetoed this idea as well, which was how the argument began in the first place to the point that it was like before, the three circling around with reasons why it was either a bad or a great idea.

"As much fun as this is to watch, I have to go start making dinner." Thatch said almost ruefully. It was honestly pretty entertaining to watch the brothers when they were so animated. No one knew if this was going to be a regular thing, or if tomorrow the three would be quiet and timid like they used to be, so it was a bit sad to have to go.

"Have fun. I know I will." Haruta said with a grin, and if he had popcorn he would have been devouring it eagerly, his eyes trained on the brothers the entire time.

"I didn't know an argument could go on for so long," Jozu said in slight amazement.

"I don't think its even really an argument," Kingdew said, an eyebrow raised as he watched, arms crossed.

"What do you mean? How can that not be an argument?" Jiru asked, gesturing to the still bickering brothers, now onto the topic of whether Luffy should be able to grab onto both the masts and slingshot himself onto an enemy ship. The commanders had to agree with Ace and Sabo on that one that it wasn't a good idea. There was way too much potential for Luffy to fling himself right into the ocean.

"There's no heat behind their words," Marco said, having also been watching with interest.

"Exactly. Even though it sounds like their fighting there isn't any real anger behind their words. It's more like they're just talking with each other, but loudly." Kingdew said, the commanders turning to see if they could see what Kingdew was talking about.

"I guess I could see that," Namur said.

"It does look like Luffy's enjoying it, even if all his ideas are getting shot down." Vista agreed, twirling his mustache between his fingers.

"Gurarara~! Those three get more interesting by the second." Whitebeard laughed, eyes crinkling due to his wide smile. The Commanders all smiled as well, finding that they were agreeing with their Pops.

"But what if I did that cool thing with my fingers and make a giant net and capture all of them?!"

_"NO!"_


	76. Suspicious Calls

"Do you think this island will have a cool adventure?" Luffy asked, head resting on his hands which were on the railing. He was staring at what seemed to be the endless ocean, though he knew that in the direction he was looking there was an island. Ace had said so himself.

"Who knows Lu, we'll just have to find out for ourselves when we get there." Ace said from where he stood beside Luffy. Sabo was on Luffy's other side as he also looked in the direction of where the island was.

"But we won't get there for a whole 'nother day!" Luffy whined, wishing he could stretch far enough to grab onto the island, even if he couldn't see it yet.

"Just be patient Luffy. You didn't mind waiting when you didn't know there was an island," Sabo said with a smile.

"'Cause I didn't know there was an island!" Luffy said, making Ace and Sabo laugh.

"Why don't we-" Sabo didn't finish his sentence when he saw Luffy turn his head away from where the island was, a frown on his face.

"Teach?" Ace growled out in question, knowing purely from the look on Luffy's face. He turned to look where Luffy was looking and confirmed it himself, watching as the man drifted slowly towards them on one of the mini Mobys.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, more for Sabo then Ace now.

"I think now's a good time to visit Whitebeard then, hm?" Sabo asked, standing up straighter with his brothers and heading towards the Captain. They sat in front of him like they usually did, no one finding this odd anymore after having seen the brothers do it multiple times in the past weeks, and waited as Teach eventually made his way to the Moby. The three didn't even turn to watch him board, all three of them doing their best to ignore his entire presence, but knowing that they couldn't because they had to keep an eye on him.

They didn't want the bastard to hurt anyone, not when they had the perfect ability to keep tabs on him without having to see him. Sabo made sure to keep focused on any and every conversation Teach had while Luffy would check the aura of anyone Teach interacted with, making sure no one got even a speck of grey in their auras after talking with the man. Ace, as much as he wanted to also help keep an eye on Teach, knew he wouldn't be able to do so without attracting unwanted attention, so instead he focused on facing forward and letting his brothers handle it, knowing they could do it better then he could, as well as inconspicuously.

Whitebeard watched the brothers, not for the first time, focusing on Teach, whether they looked like they were or not. After Luffy had explained to them how Sabo would listen in on the man Whitebeard had noticed it more often. The blonde brother would grow more silent than usual and would have a look of concentration, eyes slightly downcast as he did. The Captain took no offense when he did this, even if it did mean he wasn't listening to whatever the Captain was saying. He understood what and why Sabo was doing what he was doing it and he also knew how difficult it was for the brothers to continue being near Teach.

It hurt Whitebeard though, that someone he had come to accept as a son could be doing all of this as an act. If there was one thing Whitebeard disliked the most, it was traitors. For him to give Teach a home, a place to belong, safety, protection, and watch the man use it to his advantage- knowing he was doing all of this for his benefit, using them- made the Captain both angry and hurt. It wasn't something he could control though, and for now, he was just going to have to continue keeping an eye on the man.

"Now where did I leave off on my last story, hm?" Whitebeard asked, more to himself. The brothers briefly gave their attention to him at the words before smiling and going back to what they were doing.

"Ah, that's right, we had just finished the battle with our third marine ship in twenty minutes," Whitebeard said with a smile.

If all he could do was provide the brothers a cover as they kept tabs on Teach, he would do it.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Breakfast came and passed and the brothers found themselves walking through the halls with Namur and Marco. The two commanders were heading down below deck to go count their inventory, make sure they had enough supplies and make sure no one was stealing from their stores.

So why were the brothers going with them?

Well, that was easy. Teach had been heading near them again, so in a desperate attempt to keep away from the man, the three had gone to the closest Commanders to them, which happened to be Marco and Namur as the two passed them on their way to the inner workings of the Moby.

The two had understood immediately why the brothers had sought them out so suddenly without much of a reason after seeing Teach walking closeby, eyeing the trio as they joined Marco and Namur. They invited the brothers to come with them, and they had agreed quickly which was how they found themselves in their current situation.

"Do you have any idea why Teach seems to seek you three out so much?" Namur asked after his conversation with Marco ended. The brothers frowned but shook their heads.

"Maybe he knows we're the kids from the papers? But even then, I don't know what he wants with us." Sabo suggested, trying to think of reasons as to why the man would continue to attempt to make conversation with them.

"Maybe he thinks we're strong or something." Ace said with the usual scowl he wore whenever Teach was involved.

"He gets the greedy feelings whenever he sees us. And the dark ones." Luffy piped up with a frown of his own. Like Aces scowl, whenever Teach was involved Luffy became much more quiet and reserved compared to the more outgoing teen he was starting to become.

"Greedy?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Mm, like the feeling Izo gets when he sees clothes he wants, or like the doctors got whenever they liked the answers and wanted to do more tests," Luffy explained with a bit of a shiver, not enjoying the memory of the last example. The doctors' greed, like Teachs, was slimy and unsettling, whereas Izos greed had been lighthearted and easy, no ill intent behind it.

"Teach has the bad greed. The slimy greed." Luffy added. Now everyone frowned, contemplating Luffy's words and trying to figure out what it meant and why Teach was so focused on the brothers.

"He might want us to help him do whatever it is he's planning, but that seems a bit far fetched," Sabo said, sighing after. Trying to figure out what Teachs motivations were was both frustrating and exhausting.

He began to sympathize with the pirates, feeling a bit bad that this is probably how they had felt when they had tried figuring out just what had happened at the facility.

"There's no use worrying about it now, yoi. Unless Teach tells us outright or you overhear something, Sabo, we won't know what he's up to. Like Oyaji says, we'll just have to continue keeping an eye on him and try to prepare for whatever he's planning." Marco said, soothing every one with his words as they realized he was right. The group walked along silently now, heading further down into the Moby.

"So, we should have plenty of extra bandages after our last restock, and Whiskey said she found a box someone hadn't counted last time so we even have more then we thought,"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Right there is good!" Vista called to the brothers who all stopped, putting the barrels they held down.

"Thanks again for the help you three," Vista said as he walked up to them, smile on his face. The brothers smiled back and shrugged.

"Its no issue, it gave us something to do. It felt weird to just watch and do nothing to help out." Sabo said honestly.

After checking the inventory with Marco and Namur it had been lunchtime. The meal had passed by without any incidents, and after the trio had been sitting on the railing with Vista. Soon after, however, he excused himself, saying he had to oversee his division who was moving barrels both onto, and off, the deck. The brothers had spent a few minutes watching but felt a little weird doing nothing to help. Luffy had been the one suggesting they help, and Ace and Sabo found themselves agreeing with him.

It was good exercise too.

"I get that. Still, if I were you, I'd probably have sat there and done nothing." The commander said with a wink, making the brothers smile.

"Yeah, well we like moving around and doing things. Sitting around was getting boring." Ace said, stretching his arms as he spoke. It felt good for the three to move around and do something. After years of sitting most of their days away in a cell, it felt unbearable to not do anything. Now that they were finally relaxing and becoming comfortable with the pirates the trio wanted more and more to help out and move around.

"Well, I sure won't stop you. Having extra hands helping out is always nice. Thanks to you three we should be done moving all of these barrels before dinner." Vista said with a grin, hand on his hip as he spoke. Luffy smiled happily back at him, enjoying all the nice feelings coming from the man.

In the midst of all the happy feelings though, Luffy could feel the darkness from Teach slowly creeping his way over, causing Luffy's smile to falter as his eyes darted over to the man heading their way. Luffy's teeth clenched and he swallowed, feeling the anxiety making his body tremble slightly from just the thought of the man getting close to him.

The young teens change in mood was obvious to the other three and it didn't take long for Ace and Sabo to zero in on Teach heading their way once again. Vista was quick to notice as well, but no one could do anything to stop it. The brothers didn't want to walk away from the commander in case Teach went after them and caught them alone, but they didn't want to stay put either and watch him grow closer and closer.

Vista wasn't sure what to do either. On one hand, this was someone he had considered his brother for a decade now, someone he had thought he could trust, but seeing the brothers' reaction to him only confirmed what they had said about the man having ill intentions. It left a weird feeling in him, and he wasn't quite sure how to describe it. It was an oddly stomach-dropping feeling, but also the feeling of the breath being knocked out of him at the same time. Like he couldn't breathe.

Teach's smile was as easy going as it always was, and Vista found himself analyzing it, trying to find the maliciousness that Luffy could sense so well from the man. He found nothing, though he didn't really expect to find anything, and it only made him that much more angry at both himself and at Teach.

He and the others should have been able to catch the fact that Teach wasn't showing them his true nature. They should have been able to stop him on their own, but if they hadn't met Luffy and his brothers, chances were that they would never have guessed that Teach was planning anything bad at all until it was too late.

Not that he was mad at the brothers or anything though, he was actually grateful that they were here, both because it meant they didn't have to stay in that damned facility, and also because they had found Teach out. He felt a bit guilty though. Guilty that he hadn't caught Teach before he could cause harm to the brothers like this. It wasn't like the man was doing anything to them, but just his presence made the trio look sick to their stomachs, and honestly, they probably were.

"Commander! All the barrels moved yet?" Teach asked as he walked up to Vista, his smile still in place and a friendly look in his eyes that still perplexed Vista.

Teach was one hell of an actor.

"Sure are! The last few are being brought up now." Vista replied with his own smile, and he only hoped he was as good an actor as Teach was, because as much as he wanted to get rid of Teach, he knew he couldn't, not when he hadn't actually done anything yet.

The brothers stood quietly behind Vista, all three of them trying not to make eye contact with the bearded man they feared. Luffy stood squarely behind the commander, making it impossible to even see Teach which calmed him slightly, even if he could feel the darkness still creeping into him.

"That's good, the second division was getting antsy. Rumor was that we were going to have to help out and you know how lazy they get about manual labor this close to dinner!" Teach said, laughing afterward. Vista gave his own laugh, forcing himself to find the humor in Teachs words. It was true, second division often got lazy in the afternoons and it was always a hassle to get them to help out when they needed it. Because of this, they were usually sent to do watch or check inventory.

"In that case, they can rest easy! We're all good here. If you'll excuse me though, I was just about to take the brothers to Marco. You wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?" Vista asked, knowing it would be best for everyone if he got the brothers away from Teach and towards someone they seemed to be able to relax around. It didn't get passed anyone that the brothers had a fondness for Marco, and even Thatch as well. Marco claimed that no such thing was true, but everyone had noticed how watchful he'd become of the brothers. Thatch, on the other hand, had been quick to claim that he was best friends with the brothers, whether it was true or not.

"Last I saw, Commander Marco he was checking up on Oyaji again. Apparently, he's giving the nurses a hard time about taking his medication today. I think they were trying to limit his alcohol intake again and he threatened limiting his medicine intake." Teach said with a shake of his head. Vista found himself sighing and shaking his head too, knowing that Whitebeard could be stubborn about certain things, alcohol being one of them.

"Thanks. Talk to you later Teach." Vista said, waving to the man as he ushered the boys away from Teach. Teach smiled and waved back, saying his own goodbye as he watched them go.

"Thanks," Sabo said with a sigh of relief as they moved further and further away from the man they hated.

"No problem kid. Now, do you three think you could distract Whitebeard long enough for the nurses to hide his alcohol?" Vista asked with a grin. Similar grins grew on the trio's faces as they all nodded.

"Mr. Whitebeard, can you tell us a story?! A really long one, with a lot of action and stuff!" Luffy called as he ran over to Whitebeard. The Captain looked over to the young teen with a smile, momentarily stopping his argument with the nurse beside him.

"Leave it to us Vista." Ace said as he followed after Luffy, Sabo close behind. Vista laughed as he connected eyes with Marco who was just making his way up to Whitebeard.

"Don't worry Marco, I think the brothers have this one handled." The commander said knowingly.

He got a look of skepticism from Marco, but he chose to ignore it.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The brothers had been successful in distracting Whitebeard, the three of them watching as Marco and another nurse they didn't know the name of snuck off with the barrel of sake Whitebeard had beside him. Of course, it didn't take long for the perceptive Captain to notice, but he merely laughed about it before continuing with his story, not seeming angry in the slightest which Luffy confirmed he wasn't.

It was the beginning of dinner now. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had all just sat down, ready to eat, and the rest of the crew was still slowly crowding into the galley. Noticeably, Teach had yet to arrive, and Sabo was making sure to keep an ear on him. Currently, the man was in his room doing who knew what.

Conversation arose around the trio and Thatch gave them all their dinner before he sat in front of them, talking animatedly, gestures included as he did. Luffy took it upon himself to respond to the chef, his own gestures and faces matching Thatch's enthusiasm in a way that made Ace and Sabo briefly wonder if he was being influenced or not.

Sabo tuned back in to Teach and realized he was done fiddling with whatever it was he had been fiddling with and by the sounds of it he was dialing a number on a snail phone. Curiosity piqued, Sabo focused more of his attention on the man and what he was doing, tuning out the conversations around him. He briefly noticed Ace and Luffy catching onto his sudden focused state, the two of them growing quiet as they watched him.

The snail phone rang for a few seconds before the tell-tale 'gatcha' sounded and whoever Teach was calling answered. The loud conversations in the galley drowned out some of it, but Sabo was able to hear enough to get the gist of the conversation. At one point Teach gave a frustrated sigh and muttered out a, "Haven't found it yet." that confused Sabo, but he tried not to think too much about it and focused his attention back to the talking.

The conversation lasted only a few minutes at most, and Sabo didn't hear most of it, but what he had heard confirmed, to him at least, that Teach was definitely up to something, and from the sounds of it, he was looking for something he'd yet to find.

"Sabo?" Ace asked, Luffy noticing his brother had gone from focused to confused and telling Ace as much.

"Did you hear something?" Luffy asked with a frown, knowing it would most likely be Teach he had heard something from. Sabo nodded, still looking a slightly confused.

"Teach just-" Sabo cut himself off when he heard the galley doors open, and the devil himself walked in, friendly smile on his face as he walked to the food, grabbed some and made his way to his usual table, laughing and joking easily with those already there.

"-Called someone." Sabo continued, picking up where he left off. He knew the Commanders and Whitebeard were listening intently, all of them wanting to know just what Teach was up to.

"What did they talk about?" Izo asked with a frown, eyes darting over to Teach, the mans back to him.

"I didn't get a lot of it, it's too loud in here, but I heard Teach mention he hasn't found something yet," Sabo said, starting to eat his food now.

"Hasn't found something yet? Did he say what?" Rakuyo asked. Sabo shook his head.

"No, or at least I didn't hear what it was. The other person was a bit annoyed, but Teach did some explaining to him, something about how 'it would all be worth it in the end' and the other guy conceded." Sabo explained, everyone, frowning now.

"So whatever he's planning probably relies heavily on whatever it is he's trying to find then." Fossa deduced.

"Most likely." Sabo agreed, steeling his own glance at Teach

"Maybe that's why he's always volunteering to go on missions. Maybe its because he's trying to find whatever thing he's looking for." Namur suggested.

"That's likely. Who was the other person that he was talking to though?" Kingdew asked, reminding everyone that this meant Teach had more people in on whatever he was planning.

"He didn't sound like anyone I've heard on the ship before. It was a man though." Sabo said with a shrug, thinking back to the voice. It wasn't familiar to him in the slightest, so he'd probably never met the person before.

"So he's got people outside of the crew that he's working with then, yoi," Marco said with a nod. That was slightly good news at least. It meant that there was only one traitor on board.

"That could be possible. We'll have to continue keeping an eye on him in that case." Whitebeard agreed with a nod. Teach probably wouldn't meet up with this person with others around, but it was possible that he could, and if he did, they would be ready for it.

The conversation dropped after that, and slowly the previous conversation picked up. In no time Thatch was smiling and gesturing wildly again, Luffy doing the same, and Sabo and Ace found themselves engrossed in the tale, both of them trying to ignore the fact that Teach sat only a few tables away.

Luffy made sure to pay attention to whether the darkness got any worse or not, but for the most part, he too tried ignoring Teach. He didn't like the man and he wanted to avoid him at all costs, but he wanted to keep the Whitebeards safe, and to do that he had to keep tabs on the man and his darkness. He just had to wait until they could take Teach down, and right now, they couldn't do that. Not when he hadn't done anything yet.

Dinner passed easily after that, everyone finishing their meals slowly but surely until they were milling back out onto deck. The trio stayed up for a little longer, hanging out with Thatch, Haruta, and Izo in the meantime, but soon they were saying their goodnights and heading to their room.

Watching Teach all the time was exhausting and mentally taxing for the brothers, but as long as they continued to rely on the other Commanders and Whitebeard, then they had a feeling they would be able to get through this.


	77. Unfair Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Just a quick disclaimer: I am in no way comparing this made up religion with any current, or past, religion that exists. Believe whatever you want to believe in, I won't stop you so long as you're not doing anything to hurt yourselves or others. This religion is completely, 100%, made up. Not real. Doesn't exist. Honestly, it's more of a cult, but that's not the point either. Alright, I'll stop talking about it now.

The brothers were excited to land at the new island like always. It was fun for them to explore the new islands, even if more times then not they were interrupted prematurely by a bad event.

This time was no different, and the time after that probably wouldn't be either. It was something the three didn't think they could ever get used to. The freedom to sail the seas, to land on new islands all around the world, it was exhilarating. It showed they were free, out of the facility that had held them captive for most of their lives.

They were paired up with Marco, Jozu, and Haruta for their newest outing. The 12th division needed some supplies from one of the villages on the island and Jozu apparently knew the way to the village seeing as it was normally his division that went to get the supplies. He and Haruta had decided to come along with the brothers and Marco, and they saw no issue with that, even going as far as to agree to help carry the supplies back.

Stepping onto the island, they found themselves in a village that had people bustling around. It was midday now, so it was no surprise that the villagers were out and about. Apparently, this island had two villages, and this wasn't the one they needed to be in.

The group followed Jozu as he maneuvered through the small village, and soon they were heading out on a barely visible path that obviously wasn't used a lot, if at all. They were surrounded by trees as they walked, but Ace could see that it cleared up further up ahead. In the clearing, he could see a big circular structure that almost looked like a colosseum or something similar.

"What's the giant structure ahead of us?" Ace asked Jozu, thinking the man might know seeing as he had walked this path before. It was still a good thirty minutes ahead of them, but without any trees to block his vision Ace could see it clearly.

"Oh, you can see that already? I'm not really sure. I think its a temple or something though. The village we're heading to is weirdly religious and I think they used to use it in ceremonies or something of the sorts, but I never asked too many questions. Honestly, the people there give me the creeps so I normally get the supplies as quickly as possible and get out." Jozu said with a shake of his head.

"Big bad Jozu's scared of a tiny little village?" Haruta teased, nudging the 3rd commander with his elbow. Jozu glared at Haruta while Marco rolled his eyes at the two's antics.

"I'm not _scared_ , Haruta. I get unnerved is all. As I said, they're creepy and heavy into the whole religion thing. Its almost like that one story Thatch told about the crazy zealots trying to summon demons that they thought would, ' _heal the world_ '." Jozu said as he made air quotes, causing Marco and Haruta both to raise their eyebrows at him while the brothers listened on in interest.

"You mean the one story where he claimed they tried to sacrifice him?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that's the one!" Jozu agreed with a nod.

"Jozu, you do know Thatch's stories are supposed to be taken with a grain of salt right? Especially when he's drunk. For all we know, that story is actually about a squirrel that looked at him the wrong way and he turned it into the crazy religious sacrifice story we all know and love." Haruta said. Ace and Sabo shared a look at that, wondering how a squirrel looking at Thatch the wrong way correlated to the story he had told, but they merely shrugged and returned to listening.

"I didn't say I believed it, I just said that's what it reminds me of! For all, we know that's what the structure is for; _sacrifices!_ " Jozu said defensively with a frown. Haruta laughed at that and Marco was once again shaking his head, muttering about how stupid his brothers could be which made Sabo smile knowingly, looking at his own idiot brothers.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure that's exactly what it's used for," Haruta said as he nodded his head in mock agreement. Jozu scowled.

"I'm just saying that you never know and the people in the village are creepy. That's it." Jozu said, scowl still present.

"No need to continue defending yourself, I'm agreeing with you here Jozu," Haruta said as he patted Jozus arm which only earned him another glare. Haruta snickered now but decided to ease off on the teasing for now.

"Are you two done now, yoi?" Marco asked them with a frown, almost like a parent who was one step away from grounding their children.

"Yes, mom." Haruta moaned while Jozu rolled his eyes, knowing better than to egg on an impatient Marco.

"Remind me again why we agreed to go with them?" Marco asked, turning to look at the brothers who all merely shrugged back.

"We were all going to the island so why not go together?" Sabo asked with a smile, still thoroughly enjoying the conversation. Marco sighed but didn't say anything in response. After some more time spent walking quietly through the trees on their nearly invisible path, they finally reached the structure that Ace and Jozu had been talking about. It did look oddly colosseum like in the way it was shaped, but the stone structures and patterns screamed temple. It had a path all the way around it and Jozu told them that they would have to circle around to the other side of the temple to continue going towards the village.

As they walked up to the structure they all took in the intricate carvings in the stone. There were small patterns like flowers and swirling patterns, and then there were bigger carvings that created beautiful statues of women and men all holding various objects; from vases to scepter looking objects. Columns were also carved out of the stone as well as archways that allowed the group to see inside the temple, but all they could see was hallways lined with more columns that led to stairs going up.

"You know, I could see a religious cult doing sacrifices here," Haruta said as he peered inside the temple. Jozu didn't respond to the words, but he did cross his arms over his chest as he gave the 12th commander an, 'I told you so' look.

The group continued walking, peering in every archway but seeing only the same hall leading to stairs. Eventually, they made their way around the temple and were heading back on another overgrown path that led into another patch of trees.

"How far away is this village, yoi?" Marco asked curiously. He hadn't explored this island much before, never venturing further than the main village that they always docked at, so he had no clue how much longer of a walk they had ahead of them.

"Shouldn't be more than another half hour now," Jozu replied as he moved a tree branch out of their path.

"I think it's safe to say that this village is pretty secluded from the other," Haruta said, looking around at all the trees that surrounded them.

"Only further proving my case that they're crazy zealots!" Jozu pointed out, but Haruta didn't respond.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, who had been mostly quiet this entire time, looked around with smiles on their faces. There was something about being surrounded by trees that made the three feel at home. Safe. Of course, this could be attributed to the fact that they grew up in a place filled with trees, but they didn't pay too much mind to that.

Luffy was itching to go climbing in one of the trees, to find the tallest one he could and climb all the way to the top of it, and honestly, Ace and Sabo felt much the same way as he did. They restrained themselves from doing so, but after looking at Luffy who was practically vibrating with pent up energy, they both sighed.

"If you promise to stay in the trees along the path," Sabo said suddenly, surprising the Commanders as they turned their heads to see what Sabo was talking about.

"Really?!" Luffy asked excitedly, now jumping up and down beside Sabo in excitement.

"And you have to stay with Ace," Sabo added as an afterthought, knowing that if he didn't leave the boy with one of the older two he would get himself lost. Even if they did go with him, there was still a possibility of him getting lost, but at least this way Ace would probably be able to find him quickly with his sight, and if they needed him, they could yell and Sabo would hear.

"I will!" Luffy agreed, grabbing Ace's hand and pulling him towards the tree closest to them. Ace, who wore a smile of his own, followed easily. Luffy stretched his arm up towards a sturdy branch and promptly lifted both himself and Ace up into the tree.

"What are they doing, yoi?" Marco asked as he watched the two begin hopping through the different trees, though always staying within their sight.

"These trees remind us of home. Luffy wanted to go climbing and I agreed as long as he stays close and with Ace." Sabo said as he watched his brothers swing along the branches like monkeys.

"Don't you want to go too?" Jozu asked, not wanting to keep the teen back from having fun. The brothers deserved to have some fun after everything they'd been through.

"Nah, I'd rather not spend all my energy trying to keep up with those two. After all, it's a long walk back. If anything happens I'll be able to hear them." The blonde said. The Commanders seemed to accept this explanation and they turned back around, now watching Ace and Luffy as they walked. The two were definitely energetic as they jumped, swung and, in Luffy's case, rocketed back and forth across the path, crisscrossing through the trees as they slowly yet surely continued down the path. They listened to Sabo's instructions and stayed strictly within the trees lining the path, but that didn't seem to bother them.

Luffy at one point climbed to the very top of one of the trees up ahead, hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked ahead towards the direction they were heading towards. He shouted something to Ace and pointed towards wherever he was looking, waiting for the eldest brother to make his way up the tree. Ace looked towards the direction before nodding, saying something back to Luffy before the two disappeared back into the trees.

"Luffy thought he saw something weird in the town so he asked Ace what it was," Sabo explained for those who didn't know what had been said.

"Something weird?" Haruta asked, looking towards the town that was now visible ahead of them. Sabo nodded, frowning.

"Yeah, and apparently its nothing good," Sabo said which further confused the Commanders as they tensed.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked, wanting to know what they were walking into.

"Looks like these people might be as crazy as Jozu said they were." Ace answered before Sabo could, he and Luffy jumping out of the trees and onto the path in front of them.

"How so?" Marco asked, still not sure what was happening in the town. This wasn't one of Whitebeards territories, but that didn't mean they would let anyone do anything to the villagers without reason.

"Looks like there's a trial going on, and from the looks of it the girls not winning her case." Ace said, turning to look towards the village, walking quickly with Luffy at his side.

"More information would be helpful you know," Sabo said with a sigh, becoming a bit annoyed with Aces vagueness. Ace merely rolled his eyes but sighed.

"Some girl in chains is getting questioned and the villagers don't look too happy with her. They have a cross in the town center and everything. Wouldn't be surprised if they plan to burn her at the stake." Ace said, making everyone frown and quicken their pace as well.

"Can you hear what's happening?" Haruta asked Sabo. The blonde frowned, but nodded, focusing on the village.

"Yeah, hold on... alright, they're questioning her like Ace said. Calling her a heretic... saying she isn't a true believer anymore... yeah, definitely sounds like they're not listening to a word she's saying." Sabo agreed. The group was now on the outskirts of the village, Jozu taking the lead as he showed them how to get to the town center where everything was taking place.

'Grey color.' Luffy tapped, everyone picking up on the word as they turned to look at Luffy.

'Where?' Ace asked, his eyes scanning over the crowd of people they were standing at the edges of.

'Big guy over there, the one shouting at the girl.' Luffy said, nodding towards the man in question, eyes locked onto him. Everyone frowned as they took in the scene in front of them.

Ace and Sabo's descriptions had been pretty accurate as a girl in chains was on her knees in front of the man with the grey aura. The two of them were up on a platform, a giant cross behind them and a pile of wood off to the side. The girl had pale green hair and blue eyes, barely looking to be older than fifteen, and was wearing a white pristine dress, no shoes on her bare feet. She was crying as she tried to explain whatever she had done, but the man was hearing none of it, interrupting her every time she attempted to speak. Said man was big and burly, with no hair on is head besides his eyebrows. He wore an angry scowl and his face was nearly red with the effort it took to yell at the poor girl.

As Ace had said before, it looked as if they were getting ready to burn the girl on the cross, and no one looked like they had any disagreements with this besides a boy near the front who was being held back by a few of the townspeople. He was young as well, no more than ten or eleven, and had brown hair and blue eyes that looked the same as the girls. Possibly a sibling.

"Please, listen I beg you-"

"Heretics don't have the right to speak! You went against God's will and for that, you will be rightfully punished!" The man screamed, the crowd cheering in agreement.

"Please, I believe, I do, I-"

"Lies! We'll hear no more lies out of you, non-believer!" The man screamed, once again cutting the sobbing girl off. Two of the villagers made their way up the platform and walked up to the girl, grabbing her by both of her arms and hoisting her up.

"Send her to the cells! Prepare her for the sacrifice!" The man called to the men, both of them nodding as they dragged her off the platform. People were screaming in agreement and throwing stones at the girl as she was dragged passed them. At the man's words, Jozu sent Haruta a look, which the 12th commander promptly ignored.

Now that the girl was gone the man was leaving the platform as well and the crowd was beginning to disperse.

"Excuse me, yoi," Marco said, grabbing someone by the shoulder as they passed, a man.

"Yes?" He asked any ill will aimed at the girl gone now as he inspected Marco curiously.

"Could you tell me what that was about?" Marco asked, referring to the scene they'd all just witnessed. The man sneered, crossing his arms.

"That? Just dealing with a nuisance is all. You'd do best to just run along and let this town handle its own affairs." The man said, walking away before Marco could respond. Marco scoffed, turning to look to everyone else.

"Why don't we talk to the sad kid?" Luffy asked, eyes trained on the boy that had been struggling to get to the platform earlier. The kid was still sobbing, but there was no one holding him back now. He was sitting on the ground, unmoving save for the shaking of his shoulders as he cried, fists clenched on the ground.

Before getting a response Luffy headed off to him, the others following. The crowd was all but gone now, and none of them seemed to pay any mind to the little boy.

"Hey, you," Luffy said bluntly, but it got the boy's attention. He wiped at his eyes as he looked up at Luffy.

"Huh?" He asked in confusion. Luffy squatted in front of the boy, head tilted.

"She was important to you, right?" Luffy asked, feeling the boys distraught and misery. The boy's lip trembled again and he nodded.

"S-she's my older sister." He said softly, tears falling all over again.

"What'd she do?" Ace asked from where he stood behind Luffy.

"She didn't do anything! She just wanted to help!" The boy said angrily, but his fury quickly turned to sorrow as he began crying once again. Ace gave a frustrated look to Sabo who rolled his eyes, pushing Ace away from the kid as he knelt beside Luffy.

"Hey, look, we didn't say she did anything wrong, we just want to know why they did that to her," Sabo said, much gentler then his brothers had been. The boy's tears stopped again as he studied Sabo.

"She got medicine. F-for our dad." He said, confusing everyone.

"Medicine? All of this is happening over medicine?" Haruta asked in confusion. The boy nodded, wiping his eyes again.

"We're not allowed to use medicine, cause its Gods will whether we get sick or not, live or die. Our dad was sick, and all he needed was a little bit of medicine, but they wouldn't let us help him. Mary just wanted to help our dad so she went and got the medicine for him, but the others found out and took it before she could give it to him." He said, and Luffy could feel the sadness beginning to get stronger in the boy as he spoke.

"Dad died that night and they took Mary to the cells. They're gonna make her repent and sacrifice her to make amends." He said, once again beginning to cry at the thought of what was to come.

"Over medicine. Alright, Jozu, you were right, this town is filled with crazy religious sacrificing zealots." Haruta said apologetically as he massaged his temples. Jozu decided not to say I told you so.

"What's your name, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Henry." He said quietly. Marco nodded.

"Do you have any more family? Mom? Aunt? Uncle?" Jozu asked, but Henry shook his head.

"Only Mary." He said sadly.

"Well Henry, we'll help your sister, so don't worry," Marco said, placing a hand comfortingly on Henry's shoulder. His eyes lit up, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Really?!" He asked. Marco nodded.

"Sure will kid." He said. Luffy smiled as he felt the elation filling the small boy. Henry jumped up, hugging Marco tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He chanted over and over. Marco smiled, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Don't worry about it, yoi. Why don't we have Haruta here take you to our ship. You can stay there while we take care of things, yoi." Marco said, nodding to Haruta.

"But what about the supplies?" Haruta asked.

"Jozu can still get them and carry them back. Once you get Henry to the Moby you can head back here. It might not be so easy as to just grab Mary and run, yoi." Marco said, Haruta nodding in understanding.

"Alright, I'll be as quick as I can. Come on Henry, let's go." Haruta said, ushering the boy back towards the path they'd used before. The group watched as they left for a minute before they continued.

"Jozu, you go get the supplies and take them to the Moby. When you get there tell Oyaji about whats happening if Haruta doesn't already." Marco said Jozu nodding.

"Should I come back too?" He asked arms crossed as he looked around the village. It felt as if all eyes were on them and he was reminded of how creepy the town always felt whenever he was here.

"No, we should keep our numbers to a minimum, and if we're sneaking around it'll be better to have fewer of us. Haruta coming back is already going to make us a bit obvious, yoi." Marco said as he also looked around. He also had the sense of being watched, and from the looks of it, the brothers felt the same way as they shifted slightly, eyes darting around like they did when they were first on the Moby.

"Sounds good. See you guys soon." Jozu said, waving to them as he headed off to get the necessary supplies. Marco looked to the brothers, eyebrow raised and smile on his face.

"So, how good are you three at sneaking around, yoi?"


	78. Tied to the Cross

Haruta and Henry walked silently through the woods. The 12th commander continued to steal glances at the boy every few minutes, wondering if he was ok. He looked fine, save for the worried look on his face that showed he was still thinking about his sister, which was understandable.

"Its alright, Marco and the others will get your sister out of there so there's no need to worry," Haruta said as comfortingly as he could manage. It wasn't often that he interacted with children, but when he did he wasn't exactly the best. Not the worst, but again, not the best.

"Mm." Henry hummed, but he didn't look all that convinced. Haruta sighed, eyebrows scrunched upwards in worry as he faced forward. He could see the temple up ahead and was reminded of all the questions they'd had before. Glancing to Henry again he decided to ask him. He was someone who would probably know what the whole thing was about, and even if he didn't it might help him distract himself from his sister.

"Hey Henry, what's with the big temple there?" Haruta asked, pointing to it. Henry looked up in confusion before a knowing look lit up his face, a contrast to his previously down-turned one.

"Oh, that's the temple of Zenshana, the God we all worship," Henry said gazing at the temple in almost awe.

"Have you ever been to it before?" Haruta asked, noticing the look on the kid's face as if he'd never seen it before. Henry shook his head.

"It's sacred. The only time anyone's allowed to go to it is when there's a sacrifice or if it's your coming of age ritual," Henry said. As they grew closer to the temple the boy looked at all the carvings with admiration, lightly running his hand along the stone as they walked up to it.

Haruta was glad that the kid was distracted because if not, he surely would have gotten sad all over again at the mention of the sacrifice.

"Well its definitely beautiful." Haruta decided to say. Even if the town was crazy religious-like Jozu had said, that didn't take away from the beauty of the temple any.

"Mm. It's said it took twelve hundred days and nights to build and carve this temple." Henry said as they walked around it.

"I'm not surprised, there's a lot of detail put into it," Haruta said. Eventually, they were around the temple and continuing on the path through the woods and to the one sane village on the island.

"So have you ever been to the other village before?" Haruta asked Henry after another pause in the conversation.

"No, we're not allowed to go there. Sometimes someone'll come to our village, but it's only ever to trade supplies and that only happens a few times a year." Henry said. He didn't seem to be worrying about his sister anymore, too distracted by all the new things he was finally able to see.

"Then this should be pretty exciting then. You know, despite the circumstances." Haruta said, mumbling the last bit to himself. Henry nodded, but his expression faltered a bit, showing that he had heard Haruta.

The 12th Commander sighed.

This was going to be a long walk.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Well Marco, nows a good time to see how good you are at our silent language," Sabo said with a grin as he watched the first Commander. Marco grinned back, Ace and Luffy catching his eye momentarily as they slunk off to the woods.

"Indeed it is, yoi. Let's see how good a teacher you really are." Marco said, he and Sabo turning to walk towards where they had seen Mary dragged off earlier. The two lapsed into silence as they began scanning their surroundings.

For having such a heated trial only moments ago, the village had quickly returned to looking peaceful and calm, people smiling and laughing as if nothing was wrong.

If they hadn't seen the trial for themselves they would never guess anything was wrong.

'I can hear Mary in one of the buildings to the left. It's about thirty more feet ahead. There's a market ten feet passed that, we can blend in there.' Sabo tapped as he tried deciphering all the sounds he was hearing as quick as he could. Marco nodded beside him, taking a bit of time to understand what Sabo had tapped. He wasn't as fluent as the brothers were, and this was the first time they were really communicating through the silent language, so he was a bit slow in translating it.

'We should head to the market then. Jozu might still be there, I can tell him the plan and you can listen to what's happening with Mary. We should try and find that man that Luffy said had the grey aura too.' Marco tapped, Sabo nodding minutely in agreement.

They walked down the street casually, as to not draw any more attention to themselves. Already, everyone they passed looked at them seeing as they were outsiders, they didn't need to make the townspeople anymore suspicious of them.

When they reached the market they scanned the crowd for Jozu, spotting him easily as he exchanged money for the supplies they had originally come for. As the 3rd Commander picked up the bags and turned to leave Marco went up to him while Sabo went and sat on a bench, head turned up to the sky to make it look as if he was watching the clouds while he listened.

He couldn't hear much coming from where Mary was being held. She was still crying, which Sabo decided was probably the normal reaction to knowing you were going to be sacrificed. Once again, Sabo was thankful he had the super hearing and not Ace because the amounts of times he heard people crying would throw Ace into a rage.

He could hear one other person in the same building as Mary, probably a guard, but they weren't talking so Sabo ignored him. He made sure to keep some of his focus on Mary's building in case anyone tried to take her and focused the rest of his hearing on finding the man Luffy had said had the grey aura. His voice had been deep and rough, and Sabo was sure he would be able to recognize it if he heard it again. He listened to as many voices as he could, tried focusing on individual buildings, individual rooms, hoping that he would hear the him again.

Marco sat beside him on the bench, breaking his focus momentarily as he did. He noticed that Jozu was leaving town now and guessed Marco had told him what the plan was seeing as the First Commander was now beside him. He pushed those thoughts away and began scanning the voices again.

The East part of town was clear, as well as the South. North was nearly clear, and if he wasn't there that meant he was either in the West, or he had yet to speak and Sabo would have to start his scan all over again.

A few more minutes passed as Marco and Sabo sat in silence, the first commander watching the crowd, keeping an eye out for the man in case he walked by. Finally, Sabo was able to pinpoint him, hearing the man speak only a few houses away from where they sat.

'He's in that house there. Talking to some other guys about the sacrifice. We were right, it's going to be at the temple. Waiting until night when the moons out to do it, but they're going to take Mary there sooner when it's dark.' Sabo said, relaying everything he heard to Marco as he heard it. The first Commander gave a small nod in understanding as he listened, taking in all the information as it came.

'I'll keep an eye on the house and watch for anyone going in or out then. Keep an ear on Mary and the man in the meantime. Ace and Luffy should be back soon.' Marco said, eyes darting over to the house Sabo had pointed out to him and watching the door.

'Sounds good.'

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"What, can't keep up?" Ace teased as he turned to look back at Luffy who was swinging through the trees, trying to catch up to him.

"Can too! You just left me behind is all!" Luffy called as he grabbed the branch above Aces' head.

"That's because you were wasting time and climbing to the top of the trees again." Ace said as he rolled his eyes, turning and once again beginning his race through the trees.

"Cause I was trying to see Ruta!" Luffy whined with a pout, following close behind his older brother.

"He's probably just getting back to the Moby with Henry, it should still be another hour until he gets back." Ace said.

"Yeah, but maybe he's super fast or something," Luffy said, mind wandering to the possibility of the Commander having cool superpowers. Almost like him and his brothers, but without the whole testing thing.

"I doubt it. Anyway, come on, just up ahead should be far enough in." Ace said, pointing to a spot. Luffy nodded and the two went on in silence, only the rustling of the trees and the animals in the forest making sounds around them.

"You ready?" Ace asked, looking at Luffy with a grin. Luffy smiled his classic D smile, laughing lightly.

"Mm!"

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

The sun was setting by the time Ace and Luffy finished up their work, the two of them sweating a bit as they stared at their handiwork.

"Looks pretty good to me. What do you think Lu?" Ace asked the youngest.

"Perfect!" He cheered happily. Ace smiled to his brother and the two were about to head back to town to find Sabo and Marco when he spotted someone.

"Oh, Ruta, welcome back!" Ace said with a grin, watching as Haruta walked up to them, eyebrows raised as he took in the area around them.

"Uh, good to be back? I'm guessing there's a reason to all of this." Haruta said, gesturing to the area.

"Yeah! Marco and Sabo made this plan up and me and Ace got to come and do all of this while they did the boring stuff!" Luffy explained. Haruta watched Luffy for a minute before shrugging, smiling as well.

"Sounds good to me. So, what is the plan?" Haruta asked as the three began heading back towards town.

"Well, they're gonna sacrifice Mary or whatever, so Marco and Sabo got to thinking that they might take her to that temple, you know, the one Jozu suggested they might be sacrificing people in," Ace began, Haruta nodding along as he listened.

"Good guess. Henry told me that's where they do their ceremonies and sacrifices so chances are that's exactly where they'll take her." Haruta agreed.

"Exactly. Anyways, since that means they have to actually get to the temple before they can do any sacrificing they decided that we would have to slow them down somehow," Ace continued.

"Why not just get Mary now? Before any of this happens?" Haruta asked in confusion.

"Cause Marco said that everyone else is still restocking on the island, and if we make the people here mad we'll probably have to leave right away." Luffy piped in.

"Right. He wants to wait until night time to get Mary and go, that way everyone on the Moby'll be restocked and we can leave right away without worrying about the crazies in town chasing after us." Ace said, Haruta nodding again in understanding.

"So anyway, since we're waiting so long there's a possibility that they're gonna try and sacrifice her in the meantime. That's why we had to slow them down. Once the signal's shown, we're gonna get Mary and head straight to the Moby." Ace said, looking to the sky and noticing that the sun was setting quickly.

"What signal are we looking for?" Haruta asked, also looking to the sky.

"Don't know. Marco said he was gonna see if he could talk to Jozu before he left town, but Luffy and I left after that so we don't have a clue whether he managed to do it or not." Ace said with a shrug. They were walking into town now, the hustle and bustle of the morning now down to a few villagers milling around lazily. There seemed to be an energy to the town though, an anticipation, and they guessed it was because they were getting ready for a sacrifice.

"Alright, well now that I'm caught up, where are Marco and Sabo?" Haruta asked, looking both ways as he tried deciding which way to head.

"This way," Luffy said confidently, and Haruta nearly missed as the boy discreetly sniffed the air in front of him before he changed his direction, heading off the opposite way into town then they had been going.

"Apparently that way." Ace said with a shrug as he turned to follow his brother. Haruta caught up quickly, still in slight amazement at Luffy's show of his heightened sense. It was still something he had to get used to.

The three walked quietly, glancing around at the people and buildings as they went, and soon they found Sabo and Marco sitting on a bench talking quietly to each other.

"Hey, you guys. All good?" Sabo asked as he looked to them. Luffy beamed at him, skipping over.

"Mm! Ace and I finished everything like you said!" Luffy said proudly. Sabo nodded, smiling to his brother.

"Good. You're just in time, Declan just sent someone to get Mary. It seems that the sacrifice is about to start." Sabo said, and before anyone could question who Declan was the door to the building a few buildings away opened.

Two men came out with Mary inbetween them in chains as they dragged her out. She was crying again and begging to be spared, but none of them listened as they started dragging her off towards the town center. Behind them, the man who had been yelling at her, the one Luffy deemed as having a grey aura, walked out, a scowl on his face as he followed after them.

"Declan?" Ace guessed as he pointed to the man. Sabo nodded, he and Marco standing as they all got ready to follow.

The town center was once again crowded with people, all of them cheering as they saw Mary being dragged over. The pirates stood at the outskirts again, watching as they dragged Mary up the platform and over to the giant wooden cross, unchaining her and tying her up onto it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, in the name of Zenshana we shall rid ourselves of the non-believer!" Declan announced, everyone, cheering in response. They began chanting the word heretic over and over until Declan raised a hand, silencing them.

"Because we allowed such a heretic to live here with us, we must repent for our own sins! We must show Zenshana just how much we believe, how much we worship him!" Declan shouted, garnering more cheers from the crowd.

"The only way to do so is sacrifice! In hopes of cleansing us from our sins, we must give the great Zenshana a sacrifice, and what better than the non-believer?!" Declan asked loudly. There were cheers and screams of agreement as the men from before, as well as a few more men, came and lifted the cross, laying it down before picking it up and rising it in the air. The cheers were deafening as Mary was carried down, still bound to the cross and sobbing. Declan followed, and behind him, the crowd followed, all heading off towards the temple in the woods.

"So, about that signal?" Haruta asked, looking to Marco. It was one thing to wait when Mary wasn't being harmed, but now she was only a half-hour away from being sacrificed.

"We'll keep waiting. If they make it to the temple before the signals given we'll get her and go regardless, yoi." Marco said with a frown as the group of pirates walked down an alley, out of the view of the crowd.

They probably could have walked with the crowd without anyone noticing, but they didn't want to take the chance, not when these people seemed willing and ready to sacrifice anything they deemed went against their religion.

The group of pirates made their way through the now empty, silent town and straight to the forest. Marco immediately transformed into his Phoenix form and flew up ahead of the trees while Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all grabbed a branch and swung up into the trees as well leaving Haruta on the ground.

"Alright, cool, I'll just activate my cool powers too and zip through the trees like an animal," Haruta mumbled as he grabbed a low hanging branch, struggling to pull himself up into the tall tree. He heard a snicker and immediately remembered Sabo's hearing when the blonde's head popped in front of him, scaring him.

"To be fair, Ace and I aren't using any powers. We've just had a lot of practice." Sabo said, and without getting a chance to respond, two hands grabbed the back of Harutas shirt and he was hoisted into the tree, looking at the three grinning brothers.

"There, now come on Ruta, we gotta catch up!" Luffy said, immediately zipping off into the mess of trees ahead of them with Ace. Sabo laughed at the look on Harutas face but stayed at his side.

"I'll help you. Come on," Sabo said, showing Haruta where to step and what branches to grab. Haruta had to admit that the brothers made it seem a whole lot easier then it was, and he was grateful Sabo hadn't left him after the blonde saved him from falling out more than once. They had climbed pretty high up without the commander even noticing, but soon their heads were poking out and they were at the top of the tree, Ace, and Luffy only a few trees away.

A flash of blue landed on a tree inbetween the two groups and Marco turned back into a human, standing carefully on a branch.

"We're at Ace and Luffy's roadblock now. The crowd is still a couple minutes away, yoi." Marco said, everyone, turning to look at the path below them.

"I'll help Ruta get to the lower branches seeing as we're getting closer to the temple now," Sabo said, Marco nodding as the two disappeared into their tree.

"Lu, you head down too, just in case. I'll stay up here with Marco." Ace said, patting Luffy on the back. The boy nodded, also disappearing into the trees, leaving Marco and Ace alone at the top of the trees.

"So whats this signal gonna look like?" Ace asked as he glanced around.

"You'll know when you see it, yoi," Marco said with a smile. Ace shrugged, settling comfortably on his branch.

"Alright, but if I miss it I blame you. If you see it just say it, Sabo'll hear you." Ace said. Marco nodded and the two sat silently.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Please! I'm a believer! I am! Please let me go!" Mary cried as she struggled against the ropes tying her to the cross. No one listened to her, the chants of people calling her a heretic only growing louder.

"I'm a believer! I believe! I believe!" Mary sobbed, forced to stare at the sky as she was carried through the woods, closer and closer to the temple. After being ignored again Mary stopped yelling, merely resorting to crying silently and watching as more and more of the stars started shining in the sky. The moon was showing itself now too, big and bright.

It was beautiful, and under better circumstances, she would probably find peace in it, but now it only filled her with dread.

"Heretic! Non-believer! Sacrifice!" The shouting around her drowned out any semblance of peace she could even hope to have and the tears blurred her vision again. Her wrists were sore from her struggling against the rope, and her midsection hurt as well from how tightly the ropes were tied around her middle. It was hard to breathe, but she didn't know if it was from all her crying or the ropes themselves.

A flash of light in the sky caught her attention, and she briefly wondered if it had been a firework. Maybe the other town was having a festival? Oh, the irony.

"Heretic! Non-believer! Sacrifi-!" The chanting was cut off and screams of surprise were heard as there was a rustling from the trees. Mary turned her head, trying to see what was happening, but whatever it was was already out of the trees and below her, making it impossible to see whatever it was.

"Outsider! Leave now!" Declan shouted, which led Mary to believe that it was a person.

"Sorry, no can do, you see, I don't mind people practicing religions they believe in, but once human sacrifice gets involved I become less inclined to let it go on any longer." A man's voice said. Declan made a noise as if he was about to say something but was stopped. A crash on the other side of the path drew Mary's attention and she saw a body fly into the trees.

There were more screams and more rustles from the trees, and not for the first time, Mary wished she wasn't strung up on this cross so she could see what was happening.

Of course, you should be careful what you wish for, because suddenly the cross was falling, the men from the village who had been carrying it all running away from whatever was happening. She yelped, but was unable to do anything but lay there as she fell to the ground. The cross landed with a loud thump that shocked her, the wind getting knocked out of her from the impact.

Now that she was on the ground, it was easier to see what was happening, and from the looks of it, there was a group of outsiders fighting off the villagers. Of course, it wasn't much of a fight, and most of the villagers were running back towards the village itself rather than fighting, but there were a few believers still there trying to fight back.

Her attention was once again drawn away as a blue light caught her attention, and as she looked into the sky at it, she saw it grow closer. It almost looked like a bird, but what kind of bird was such a bright, luminescent blue? And... wait... was it _on fire?!_

She shrieked as the flaming blue bird dove towards her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head away as she waited for the inevitable pain that was to come.

It never came though, and instead, there was a gust of cool air and a feeling of relief as the ropes binding her to the cross slackened, slipping to the ground and freeing her. She blinked her eyes open in shock just in time to watch the blue bird change into a human.

"Z-Zenshana?" She asked in disbelief, because what else could this be? A flaming blue bird turning into a human just wasn't possible. Obviously, it was an act of her God, one she had betrayed.

"P-please, I-I believe! I believe! I-I'll never go against you again, I promise!" She begged, hands clasped together as she pleaded. The man raised his hands up in a gesture of peace, and despite her tears and the fear inside her, she managed to stay in place as he grew closer to her.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you, and my name isn't Zenshana either, yoi." The man said. Mary opened and closed her mouth in confusion, not sure what was happening.

"Come on, yoi, don't be scared, I'm here to get you out of here." He said, holding his hand out. She hesitated, turning to look back to the fight and finding that there wasn't anyone left. All the men who had been fighting were now unconscious on the ground and the group that had come from the trees were watching her.

"W-what-... who are you guys?" She asked fearfully. Surely this was happening because she had sinned. Because she had gone against Zenshana. This had to be a trick or an act of the devil.

"We're apart of the Whitebeard pirates. Henry told us what happened and we promised him we'd help you out." One of the men said. Mary's eyes filled with tears at the mention of her brother.

"H-Henry? Is he alright?" She asked, hoping they hadn't hurt him. They had said they were pirates, and everything she'd been taught about pirates hadn't been good.

"He's safe, but we really should get going. The towns coming back, and from the looks of it they've brought weapons." One of the darker haired men said, looking towards the town. Mary looked but saw no one and wondered if he was trying to trick her.

"Come on, you don't have to be scared anymore! Let's go!" The smallest man said, a smile on his face as he bounced in place beside her. Still confused Mary only nodded, standing and smoothing her dress down, ignoring how dirty the previously pristine white dress had been.

"Alright, let's go. Its a bit of a walk, but it seems we'll be running so that should cut down the time a bit. Can you run?" The blonde asked. Mary nodded, and before she knew it she was being dragged forward, forced to break into a sprint to keep up.

"Good! My name's Sabo by the way! Those are my brothers Ace and Luffy, and those two are Marco and Ruta!" The blonde, Sabo, introduced. She could only nod, still in a daze as she was dragged through the forest.

"This way!" The smallest, Luffy, shouted as he began steering them off the path and further into the trees. Mary was confused as to where they were going, but everyone else seemed to trust him, so she guessed she had no choice but to do so as well. They all ran for what felt like an eternity, but soon they were running along a beach, the water lapping close to their feet.

"Wasn't the Moby at the other village?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, but Marco had Jozu tell them to move it here. Its closer than where it was so its less of a run. Where is it Lu?" Sabo asked, and Luffy sniffed the air, pointing to what looked to lead to a cove.

"Over there!" He shouted, steering them all in the right direction again. Growing closer, the Moby Dick became more and more visible, and before Mary knew it, they were boarding the giant ship and setting sail. It had all happened so fast that she hadn't even registered any of it happening as she saw it, not until she heard her name being called and felt a small body ramming into hers.

"Henry?" She asked in confusion, looking down and seeing her little brother crying as he hugged her.

"You're alright! Everyone here said you would be, but I didn't know if I should trust 'em, cause they said they were pirates, and didn't everyone else say pirates were bad guys and stuff?" Henry asked, a bit too fast but still clear enough for her to hear.

"Uh, I think these pirates are good..." She said, still a bit unsure herself as she looked around the ship. Haruta was panting beside her, sitting on the deck as he did and wiping sweat from his head. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy didn't seem to be all that bothered as they talked amongst themselves, Ace ruffling Luffy's hair as the two oldest smiled at the youngest, and Marco was watching them all with a small smile of his own.

"Really? Mr. Captain said that he could take us to a new island because everyone else was mad at us. Does that mean he wasn't lying? We can go somewhere else and you don't have to be sacrificed?" Henry asked. Mary did her best to give her brother a smile but didn't know how well she managed it.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to find out, but I think it's safe to assume that I won't be sacrificed. Not tonight anyway."


	79. Mary and Henry Depart

The next morning, the brothers sat beside Mary and Henry in the dining hall, watching as the green-haired girl slowly ate her food, still looking nervous. Henry had no such qualms as he ate quickly, a smile on his face as he did so.

"You don't have to be scared." Luffy suddenly said to Mary, shocking the poor girl.

"E-excuse me?" She asked, turning to look at the young teen.

"You don't have to be scared. Everyone here is really nice! We were really scared when we first came here too, but Whitebeard, and Marco, and Thatch, and Izo, and Jozu, and Ruta, and-"

"I think she gets the point Lu." Ace muttered as he ate a forkful of eggs.

"Oh, well, they're all really nice! They fed us, and gave us clothes, and kept us safe and stuff! They'll help you too!" Luffy said, beaming at Mary, throwing her off guard. It took her a second to find her words again.

"Are you apart of the crew as well?" She asked curiously.

"Mm! But we weren't always. Whitebeard and everyone saved us and helped us, and we just stayed." Luffy said, making Mary curious as to what they had needed saving from.

"What happened?" She asked, realizing that maybe she had more in common with these three then she thought. After all, she had just been saved by the pirates as well just last night.

"Ah, we don't exactly like talking about that, sorry. Let's just say... we were kidnapped for a long time, and the Whitebeards helped us escape our... uh... captors..." Sabo said, stumbling as he tried to find the right words. Mary only nodded, feeling sympathetic towards the brothers. She could only imagine how horrible it must have been, and if they weren't fond of sharing details it was obviously a traumatic experience.

"Anyways, you'll be fine here. Besides, Jiru said that they called the Mini Moby closest to us and you'll be heading off after lunch. They'll take you to one of Whitebeards islands." Ace said with an indifferent shrug as he finished his meal. Mary only nodded in response, turning back to her meal, noticing now that her brother wasn't with her.

"Henry?" She asked, slightly frantic as she looked around the galley for him.

"He went out on deck. We can go get him for you if you want." Sabo said with a worried look in his eyes. Mary opened her mouth, hesitating again as she looked at her food.

"Would you mind? I just-... I'd rather he stay close. Stay out of trouble." She said. Sabo smiled, shaking his head as he and Ace stood.

"Its no problem. I understand how it feels to be worried about your siblings causing trouble." Sabo said, earning shouts from Ace and Luffy as they tried defending themselves, causing Mary to smile.

"We'll send him in here shortly," Sabo said, ignoring the shouts as he left. Ace rolled his eyes and followed, while Luffy tilted his head, watching them go but not following. The two oldest stopped when they saw he wasn't following, but after a few seconds, they both shrugged and left the room, leaving Mary and Luffy sitting at the table. The young teen was swinging his feet and humming, a smile on his face as he did so.

All the other commanders who had been at the table earlier had left, and with breakfast being nearly over, that left Mary and Luffy as one of the only two people in the galley. Feeling a bit awkward and still nervous, Mary tried focusing on her food. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could leave.

"I used to be really scared and stuff too. Especially of Whiskey. Actually, I'm still a little scared of her, but I'm trying not to be." Luffy said suddenly, surprising Mary.

"Whiskey?" Mary questioned, not knowing who that was. She hadn't really gotten anyone else's name, having gone straight to sleep last night.

"Mm. She's a nurse. Me and my brothers don't like nurses, they weren't nice to us, but the nurses here are nice, or at least I think they are. We're trying to not be scared of them." Luffy explained.

"Is it that obvious that I'm scared?" Mary asked with a hesitant laugh, picking at her food with her food.

"Nope," Luffy said, confusing Mary, but suddenly she flushed. Had he tricked her? Bluffed her into confessing she was scared? She felt a bit ashamed that she had been tricked so easily, but that feeling left when Luffy continued talking.

"I felt it." He said, his head tilting again as he looked at the table.

"Felt it?" Mary asked, wondering what he meant by that.

"Mm. I could feel you were scared. You still kind of are, but now your just confused and curious." Luffy said, turning to smile at her.

"H-how do you know that?" Mary asked. Luffy opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a different voice.

"Our brothers an empath." Sabo suddenly said. Luffy's mouth closed as he and Mary both turned to look at the blonde.

"An empath?" Mary asked.

"It means he can feel other people's emotions. Don't know how, it was just something he was born with." Sabo said with a shrug before turning.

"Anyway, we got Henry for you. He was watching the ocean." Sabo said, patting her brother on the back who smiled brightly to her. Conversation with Luffy forgotten, Mary turned a stern look to her brother.

"Henry! I told you to stay with me!" She scolded, making Henry look to the floor sheepishly.

"Sorry, Mary." He mumbled. She rolled her eyes.

"It's fine this once, as long as you didn't cause trouble. Just don't do it again, alright?" She asked. He nodded, sitting beside her on the bench.

"If you'll excuse us, we have an appointment. Come on Lu, time to talk to Whiskey." Sabo said, Luffy nodding and leaving the table. Mary was reminded of her conversation with Luffy and how he said he and his brothers were trying to get over their fear of Whiskey.

"Bye Mary, bye Henry! See you later!" The young teen called as he waved to them, exiting the galley. The siblings waved back to him as they watched him leave, and once he was gone, it was quiet.

"I like them," Henry said suddenly, shocking Mary.

"Really?" Mary asked hesitantly. Henry nodded.

"Yeah! They've been really nice and stuff." The boy said, smiling cheerily. Mary frowned, turning back to her still unfinished food.

"Yeah, I guess they have been."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"I can't believe I missed all the action! Again!" The chef cried. Mary and Henry were sitting nearby the Captain, not sure where else to go. Since they were so close to the giant though, they could hear the conversations happening between the commanders and the captain himself.

"Seems like a problem that none of us are suffering from," Haruta muttered from where he was cleaning his saber. Whitebeard smiled as he listened, drinking from his large sake cup.

"That's it, I'm sticking to the brothers like glue from now on!" Thatch declared, earning a few laughs from the commanders and Captain.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll take that real well. We've only just started getting them comfortable here with us, but sure, go ahead and scare them off again Thatch." Blamenco said with a smile, making the chef pout.

"I won't scare them off. We're buddies, they know I just want to have some fun too. I'm sure Sabos listening right now and will agree." Thatch said, crossing his arms.

"Uh-huh, that's definitely how it'll go," Namur said with an eye roll.

"It will! Where are they? I'll ask myself!" Thatch declared.

"They're speaking with Whiskey son, and you know no ones interrupting that. You'll just have to wait until they're finished." Whitebeard said with a smile to the man. Thatch groaned but nodded.

"Mark my words! The next time there's action, I'll be there for it!" Thatch said as he stalked off, right towards where Mary and Henry were. His pout left his face as he spotted the two and was replaced with a smile.

"Ah, you two are the ones Marco, Haruta and the trio saved, right?" He asked as he sat beside them.

"Yup! I'm Henry!" Henry said with a smile.

"I'm Mary," Mary said with her own hesitant smile.

"Well, I'm Thatch! I'm the chef here. How are you two fairing around here?" He asked, watching the crew as he spoke.

"Just fine, thank you," Mary said politely. Thatch laughed.

"You remind me of Sabo! Well... pre-comfortable Sabo." Thatch said, more to himself.

"What does that mean?" Mary asked in confusion. Thatch blinked for a second.

"Oh, right, well uh, the brothers weren't very... what's the word... _open_ when they first arrived here. Sabo usually did all the talking for the three of them, and they didn't share much of anything about themselves. Luffy pretended he was mute at first you know! Had us all fooled!" Thatch said with a laugh, and Mary was reminded of the fact that Sabo had said they'd been kidnapped before they'd become pirates.

"Anyway, the way you talk and act, its how Sabo acted. Before he got more comfortable here that is." Thatch said. The three were quiet now, Henry looking to the sky instead of listening while Mary looked to the ground.

"You know, Sabo said that Luffy was an empath, that he feels other people's emotions. Is that true?" Mary asked. Even though Luffy had basically confirmed it for her in the galley, it was still too hard to believe.

"Oh, he said that huh? Well uh, yeah, it's true. A bit hard for us to believe too you know, but after seeing him do his thing a few times, it gets more believable." Thatch said, rubbing the back of his head. Mary frowned.

"Now that we're out of our village it's hard to believe just how secluded and cut off from the outside world we really were. Like devil fruits, and empaths, and pirates. We didn't know about any of those things. We were only taught how to please Zenshana and what not to do." Mary said, thinking back to her conversation with Marco about how he had turned into a flaming bird.

"Explains how none of the villagers recognized us then. We're pretty well known. Usually, the second someone sees Marco they know we're Whitebeards." Thatch said, again, more to himself than to Mary.

"We don't get the newspaper, it was seen as an act against Zenshana. We weren't allowed to interact with outside ships, only Declan and a few of the people working in the market could. We couldn't go too far into the woods either or else we would be outcasted and shunned." Mary said, explaining how they knew nothing about pirates.

"Honestly, it's amazing you survived there." Thatch said with a whistle. With all the restrictions, he didn't think he would be able to last a day without breaking some kind of rule. Mary's mouth twitched upwards into a smile at the words, shrugging.

"We were all raised that way. It's easy not to give in to temptation when you don't know what you're missing out on." She said.

"Well, real-world rule number one, take everything the marines say with a grain of salt. Real-world rule number two, not all pirates are as nice as us, we're a bit of an exception. Real-world rule number three, the fear of being sacrificed isn't something you have to worry about normally." Thatch said, ticking the rules off on his fingers. Mary smiled again, laughing a bit.

"I'll remember that. Thanks." She said. Thatch smiled to her, patting her shoulder.

"No problem! Now, if you'll excuse me, it seems the brothers are done speaking to Whiskey and I've got some pressing questions to ask them." Thatch said as he stood, jogging off toward the brothers who were walking down from the upper deck. Mary watched him leave with a smile, turning to look to Henry after a minute. Her brother seemed content to just watch the sky, a smile on his face as he did. Even though their life had been hard, she had nearly been killed, and their father had died, he seemed to be taking it all pretty well. Much better then she was anyhow. Maybe it hadn't all caught up to him yet?

In any case, she would deal with it when it came, but for now, she would try and stay strong. Try and give these pirates a chance. They had saved her and Henry after all.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Get them! Get the demon trio!" Mary and Henry watched safely from Whitebeard's lap as the pirates fought against the marines. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were fighting in front of them, Marco closeby, and a group of marine soldiers charged forward, swords raised as they did.

"Demon trio?" Henry asked, confused why they were calling the brothers that.

"Its a moniker the marines gave the brothers," Whitebeard said as he watched his crew fight, careful eyes scanning over the entire thing.

"Why?" Mary asked in equal confusion. The brothers seemed really nice, so why would they be titled such a horrible name?

"The brothers were involved in something that the marines wanted to cover up, and in an attempt to shift the blame onto someone else, they labeled the brothers as the bad guys. Because of that, they were given the moniker the Demon Trio." Whitebeard explained with a frown.

"Ace, duck!" Sabo shouted, the eldest doing just that without hesitation as Sabo swung his pipe where Aces head had been, knocking a marine away as he did.

"That's not right," Henry mumbled with a frown. Whitebeard smiled, laughing.

"You're right, it's not, but that's how the world works, unfortunately." The Captain said with a sigh. Mary frowned as well and remembered Thatchs first real-world rule.

"Sabo!" Ace called, the blonde nodded as he jumped backward, behind Ace. The raven-haired teen immediately threw his fist back, the hand igniting immediately as he threw a flaming punch forward, knocking away a few of the soldiers.

"Leave some for me!" Luffy called as he sprung over Aces shoulders, fists raising as he punched rapidly, knocking away even more of the marines. Mary and Henry watched in awe as the entire crew fought, clearly the victors already even if there were still a few marines up. The crew was strong, only a handful of them actually injured which said something when there were hundreds of them on board.

Soon enough the marines were driven off the boat, the pirates cheering for their victory as they watched them go. Henry and Mary smiled as well, enjoying the cheerfulness of the pirates as they watched the marines run off.

"Do you guys fight marines often?" Mary asked Whitebeard, immediately finding that it was a stupid question. They were pirates, of course they fought marines a lot, its what they do.

"Whenever they get overconfident enough to believe they can take us down, yes," Whitebeard said, his smile never leaving his face as he spoke to her. Mary smiled back before turning to face the crew again. Ace and Luffy were talking animatedly about something, and from the looks of it, it was pretty amazing if Luffy's hand gestures were anything to go on. Sabo was off to the side talking to Thatch who kept switching his features from hopeful, to pouting, and then smiling.

Whatever they were talking about though was interrupted when Marco walked over, pointing to Ace and Luffy who were now butting heads about something. Sabo sighed, pinching his nose as he stalked up to the two and knocked them both on the heads, the two falling into a squat as they rubbed their heads.

"Ow! What was that for?!" They asked simultaneously, looking at Sabo with looks of betrayal. The blonde rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"For being idiots. Like always." He said, the two pouting at his words. There was an immediate reaction as they tried to defend themselves, but Mary tuned it out, laughing instead.

"They sure are energetic." She said, Henry, nodding in agreement beside her.

"Gurarara~! That they are. They weren't always like that though." Whitebeard said, his bright smile turning fond.

"Oh yeah, I keep hearing bits and pieces about that," Mary said, remembering what everyone had told her about the three.

"They used to be quite reserved. Didn't really speak unless spoken to. It's only been the last few weeks that they've really opened up." Whitebeard said with a sigh as he took a sip from his cup.

"Really? So soon?" Mary said in surprise, thinking that the brothers had been like this for a long time, not just a few weeks.

"That's right. Those three have a long way to go to heal, but they've made fantastic progress." The captain said, smiling fondly once more. Mary turned to look at the bickering brothers, finding herself smiling and nodding in agreement.

"It sure looks that way."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

It was just after lunch when Haruta came up from below deck, having left lunch early when he got word that they had a call.

"Pops, the Mini Moby should be here in an hour," Haruta reported, which Whitebeard nodded to.

"Thank you, son," Whitebeard said, turning to look at Henry and Mary.

"Seems your ride should be here shortly. They'll take you to the closest island under my protection and you'll be given a place to stay. You're welcome to stay there however long you want to." Whitebeard said to them. Mary's eyes welled with tears of gratitude, but they didn't fall.

"Thank you. That's extremely kind of you." Mary said, wiping at her eyes as she said so. Whitebeard laughed.

"Don't mention it child. Hopefully, you and your brother will be able to lead happy lives now." Whitebeard said, to which Mary nodded to, hoping the same herself.

She and Henry sat off to the side for the most of that next hour, not wanting to get in the way, especially now that they were being provided a home on one of these pirates' protected islands. Soon enough, the Mini Moby was in sight and was beside their ship, ready for them to board.

"See you later Mary! Henry!" Luffy said with a bright smile as he waved, he and his brothers having walked over to say their farewells. The two smiled and waved back.

"Goodbye. Thank you again for everything!" Mary said as she and Henry boarded the Mini Moby. The Whitebeards waved their goodbyes to them, all shouting their well wishes as they did, and Mary felt a swell of joy in her chest as they did. It was nice to feel cared for, even if it was from a pirate crew she had only stayed with for less then a day.

They had saved her after all.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Getting acquainted on the Whitebeards Island was a lot easier then she had expected. She and Henry had been given a home to stay in and their neighbors had welcomed them with wide-open arms, explaining how they ran things in their quiet village and places she could get work from if she needed it. Henry was also going to school, a real school, not one that censored everything to the point that you didn't know anything but your small town, and he was making friends.

Mary smiled to herself as she walked to the market, basket in hand. People greeted her as she passed and she responded in kind before continuing on her way. It was a nice, bright, peaceful day, not a cloud in the sky. Birds chirped quietly from their trees and kids ran along the path, laughing and smiling as they did so.

It was almost too good to be true, to go from living a nightmare one day to living in paradise the next.

Passing by a news stand, Mary paused to buy one of the papers. Ever since she learned there was a world outside of her small secluded town she found herself wanting to learn everything she could about it. Thanking the man as she bought the paper she looked at the front page, eyebrows raising as she saw three familiar faces right on the front cover.

"Oh? The Demon Trio Found Out?" She asked herself, skimming the article. She smiled to herself, shaking her head as she opened the paper, three bounty posters inside.

"Rule number one of the real world; Take everything the marines say with a grain of salt."


	80. Liar Liar

It was a couple of days after they had parted ways with Mary and Henry. The brothers had officially been apart of the crew for a little over two months now, and the three were still amazed every day that they had gotten lucky enough to have stumbled upon one of the only friendly pirates in the world.

Luffy definitely had some crazy good luck when it came down to it, that's for sure.

Ace groaned when he felt Sabo slap his chest in an attempt to wake him up.

"Five more minutes." Ace mumbled as he rolled over onto his side, facing away from the blonde.

"You have until Luffys finished writing in his journal," Sabo grumbled out, just waking up himself. Sabo was woken up when Luffy had a nightmare but he'd fallen asleep shortly after, only waking up when he heard breakfast finishing up in the galley. Luffy was sitting at the desk, tongue poking out as he concentrated on writing his nightmare down and Sabo was still slightly amazed they had all stuck to writing in their journals. Already they had quite a few pages full of their writing and Sabo wondered how long it would take to fill their entire journals.

"How much more you got Lu?" Sabo asked with a yawn as he sat up, stretching. Luffy's concentration broke, turning to look at Sabo.

"Not a lot. Almost done." He said, turning back tot he book.

"Breakfast is ready so we can go once your done and Ace is awake," Sabo said, Luffy nodding to show he heard him. The blonde got out of bed and started getting ready for the day, trying to tune out the sound of Aces snoring as he did. When he was ready he noticed Luffy seemed to be finishing up so he picked up one of Aces boots, chucking it at the sleeping teen.

"Ow... wha' was that for?" Ace mumbled, rubbing the back of his head which had been nailed by the heel of the boot. Luffy snickered from the desk while Sabo rolled his eyes.

"Get ready Ace, we're leaving," Sabo said as he crossed his arms over his chest. Ace grumbled about it, but did it anyways, sluggishly sliding out of bed and getting ready while Luffy finished writing, closing the book and putting it and the quill away.

"All good?" Sabo asked, turning to assess whether Ace was awake enough to leave the room.

"I'm good." He said with another yawn, rubbing his eye as he did. Sabo shrugged, because even if Ace wasn't awake enough they wouldn't have to go outside until after breakfast so his eyes shouldn't have too much of an issue until then. The three left their room and Sabo tilted his head once they did, picking up on the conversation in the galley.

"What?" Ace asked him, knowing the look Sabo wore meant he was hearing something.

"I think there was something in the news about us," Sabo said with a frown. Ace and Luffy frowned now as well because that couldn't be good.

"What's it about?" Luffy asked softly, but Sabo could only shrug.

"I don't know, but the commanders are wondering how we're going to take it, so odds are its nothing good," Sabo said with a sigh. Couldn't they just live without the marines trying to ruin their lives every day?

"Great, of course it's not." Ace mumbled with a scowl as he kicked his feet. The three walked silently, the anticipation of whatever they were about to find out stopping anymore conversation from happening.

Finally, they were walking into the galley, the three of them heading straight to their seats at the commanders' table, already feeling the stares.

"So, what's the news?" Sabo asked with a sigh, and the commanders looked momentarily confused before understanding shown on their faces and Izo slid one of the papers towards trio huddled together, all trying to read the paper at the same time.

"The Demon Trio Found Out?" Sabo mumbled to himself as he read the title, mind racing with different thoughts, all trying to figure out what that meant.

The three read the article quickly, no one at the table speaking as they all watched the brothers. No one wanted to speak or interrupt them, so they merely ate silently, waiting to see how they reacted.

Finally, they finished reading, sitting back as Sabo opened the paper to look at the bounties, each having gone up yet another 50 million for a grand total of 200 million. Now, along with their numbers, their names were plastered on the pages as well.

"So they found out our names then," Sabo said with a sigh as he studied their posters. His own didn't have a last name, and he silently wondered if his noble heritage had anything to do with that. Having the family name plastered alongside the number of an infamously feared teen would surely ruin his family's reputation, and he knew they would do anything to keep that from happening. Ace had been spared from a last name as well, and he was grateful for that. If they had seen the four letters spelling out the last name Ace despised, there would have been much more of an uproar then this. Luffy hadn't been as lucky, and his poster had his full name on it, Monkey D. Luffy, which led them to believe someone had made the connection between Garp and his grandson.

How they had gotten any of their names in the first place was still a mystery though. Maybe there had been a few surviving marines that had heard them during a fight, but other than that they had no clue, and probably would never know.

"Because of course, those bastards did. It was only a matter of time." Ace muttered bitterly, scowling. Sabo felt that it was too early in the morning to have to deal with all of this, but he didn't have the luxury of choosing when they got bad news.

"At least they won't call us by our numbers," Sabo said, trying to find any bright side to this. The brothers hated being called by their numbers, because every time they heard someone say them it flashed them right back to being in their cell, listening to Haru list off names as he chose who was getting tested on that day.

They began eating after that, normal chatter taking place as they did. The brothers were thankful none of the commanders pressed them anymore about it, and before they knew it, they were done with their meals, heading out onto the deck. Their sour moods didn't last all that long, not when they could freely go outside, look at the sky, bask in the sun, admire the ocean. No matter what happened to them, they could always rely on the sky, and ocean, to put them at peace. It had a calming effect on them, one that could soothe even their darkest thoughts.

Of course, talking with Whiskey was starting to have its benefits too. It wasn't too obvious yet, and they still needed a lot more help, but taking Whiskey's advice was already beginning to seem like an option to them.

Deep breathes. Remind yourself you're no longer in there. Tell yourself that your safe here- that was still a difficult one for them. Focus on the now, not the then. It wasn't something they thought they'd need to use so soon, but now that they were, the three were glad they had kept up with the sessions.

The deck slowly filled with people as time ticked away. After getting over the news Ace, Sabo and Luffy had gone and joined the commanders sitting with Whitebeard, enjoying listening to them talk amongst each other. It was also something that helped them, to see others living so peacefully here, so calm and safe. Almost normal.

"Nuh-uh, no way Ruta. You've got to be lying about that one." Thatch said, shaking his head and crossing his arms, a look of doubt on his face as he looked at Haruta.

"One hundred and ten percent the truth Thatch," Haruta said with a grin.

"So you want us to believe that you saw a dog talking? Like a human? And they weren't a Mink?" Jozu asked skeptically. Marco stood by with a bored look on his face, listening but not actively joining in on the conversation, while Izo was sewing as he listened and Atmos watched, invested in the conversation so far. Whitebeard was also watching with his usual fond smile, chuckling at his sons' actions.

"Why wouldn't you believe me? I'm your brother after all." Haruta said with a hint of playfulness to his tone. Ace and Sabo listened on silently, eyebrows raised as they tried deciphering whether the commander was lying or not. It definitely sounded like it, but he seemed pretty adamant that it wasn't. In between them, Luffy laughed.

'He's lying.' Luffy tapped to his brothers, not noticing Marco and Whitebeard's eyes flashing to him as they caught his taps.

'Oh yeah? I thought so. He's pretty good at it.' Ace said genuinely, smiling now as well as he watched Haruta continue to try and convince the others he had really seen a talking dog.

"What did that first tap mean son? I don't think you've taught it to me before." Whitebeard asked, his fond smile growing more playful as he took a sip of his drink.

It was true that the brothers hadn't taught them the word for lying, but the context was easy to pick up on after what Ace had said. Luffy could feel the playfulness in Whitebeard and his smile widened, Ace and Sabo's as well.

"That one?" Sabo asked, all of the other Commanders stopping their conversation to watch as Sabo retapped the word for lying.

"Yes, that one," Whitebeard confirmed, trying to hold in his laughter as he did.

"It means lying!" Luffy said cheerfully, laughing afterward. Whitebeard laughed as well and Marco smiled to himself, shaking his head while the Commanders watched in interest.

"Lying? You think Rutas lying too? See, even Luffy knows how ridiculous that story is!" Thatch said with a grin, pointing to Haruta.

"I don't think so, I know so," Luffy said, head tilted as he continued smiling. This intrigued everyone once more as they looked at him.

"You do? How, yoi?" Marco asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I felt it. People don't have genuine feelings when they lie." Luffy said with a shrug as if it was common knowledge.

"So you know whenever anyone lies?" Jozu asked in amazement. Luffy nodded in confirmation, grinning toothily.

"I hate Thatchs cooking," Haruta said, eyes slightly narrowed. Thatch gawked at his brother, a look of hurt on his face, but before he could speak Luffy laughed.

"Liar!" Luffy said happily.

"I have three books in my room right now," Atmos said experimentally, interested in whether Luffy could really tell truth from lies just from how they felt.

"Liar!" Luffy chirped in response.

"I have an entire bag of candy hidden somewhere on the ship," Jozu said confidently, grinning.

"Truth!" Luffy said with another laugh, the commanders looking at Jozu who shrugged.

"He's right." He said, not even explaining why he had a hidden bag of candy.

"I love drawing," Izo said, more for the fun of it. He believed Luffy was telling the truth, but it was still amazing to see him use the powers they didn't know much about.

"True!" Luffy said, seemingly having a good time.

"Mmm... Ah! I won the snowball fight between Jiru and I last year!" Thatch said confidently, feeling that this would stump Luffy.

"True!" The boy chirped easily, causing Thatch to wilt. Everyone turned to Marco who looked back, eyebrow raised.

"What?" He asked, not liking the expectant look they all had in their eyes.

"Your turn," Atmos said with a shrug as if it were obvious.

"Why? I believe him, yoi." Marco said.

"Yeah, but if anyone can trick someone it would be you, Marco! You're good at that stuff." Haruta said, everyone, nodding in agreement. Ace and Sabo continued to watch on, enjoying the entertainment being provided to them. Whitebeard seemed to share their sentiment as he continued sipping from his drink, still grinning.

"Fine, yoi. These guys are all idiots." Marco said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder to point at the group of Commanders. They all gave shouts at that, but Luffy's laugh once again stopped them from speaking.

"Lies!" Luffy declared, shocking them.

"Lies? So... we're not idiots?" Jozu asked.

"But you sure as hell act like 'em, yoi," Marco said with an eye-roll, confirming that Luffy had gotten it correct.

"Amazing! Luffy, that ability of yours could tell us once and for all if Thatch is telling the truth whenever he tells his crazy stories!" Haruta said, stars in his eyes as he said this. Thatch began trying to stop Haruta from this line of conversation while Izo looked to Ace and Sabo.

"Can you guys lie to Luffy?" He asked curiously. They knew Luffy's powers almost as well as their own, so it was a good question to ask. If anyone knew how to lie to the boy, it would be them. This stopped Thatch and Haruta's argument as they turned to the two brothers.

"Us? No way, he always knows." Ace said, smashing Luffy's hat on his brother's head.

"Yeah, not even we are immune to his lie detection," Sabo said with a shake of his head, smiling.

"Shishishi~! You always feel guilty whenever you lie to me! You guys are the easiest to tell if your lying!" Luffy said, making the two flush a bit at his words.

"So it's not always the same feeling? Like... you cant just feel a lie?" Jozu asked, not quite sure how to word the question.

"Nope. Sometimes people feel guilty, or they feel ashamed, or they feel confident and stuff, but it's stronger or weaker depending on the situation. Marco was the hardest to tell, but it was still easy." Luffy said as he tried describing the things he felt into words. Everyone seemed to understand that it was hard to explain and left it at that. Thatch was quick to turn back to Haruta and exclaim that he had known all along his story had been a lie, a smile on his face as he said so.

The brothers watched with smiles once more, still amazed that the pirates could hear them talk about their powers and not call them monsters or turn them back into the marines.

More and more, these pirates proved to them that they were trustworthy, and maybe even safe.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Alright you three, you're up!" Thatch announced as he walked over to them, long strides reaching the lounging brothers within seconds, a smile lighting up his face.

"Up? For what?" Ace asked in confusion, eyes cracking open in confusion as he sat up away from the railing. Sabo and Luffy turned their heads in equal confusion, both having no idea what the chef could be talking about.

"Helping me out in the kitchen of course! I've got a baking list that a mile long and everyone else in my division is working on the feast, so I thought I'd ask you to help me out again." Thatch said, alluding to when they had helped him bake a while back. Luffy beamed at the memory, nodding his head happily as he spun to get off the railing, Sabo following as he smiled as well.

"I wanna help! It was really fun last time!" Luffy said excitedly, fists in the air in excitement.

"Exactly! Now come on, we have to get cooking if we want to be done in time!" Thatch said as he raised his fists as well, leading the way to the kitchen. Luffy cheered, Sabo laughed, and Ace shook his head, smiling, but they all followed willingly to the kitchen.

"So there's going to be a feast tonight?" Sabo asked, remembering Thatchs earlier words.

"That's right. We're celebrating today after Namurs division managed to successfully protect one of our islands." Thatch explained as they walked.

"Is there gonna be a party?" Luffy asked, thinking back to the party they had thrown when the brothers had joined. Thatch's smile widened as he nodded.

"You bet there'll be a party! If there's one thing the Whitebeards are good at, it's partying!" Thatch stated proudly. They entered the kitchen, all of the chefs bustling around in a hurry as they began preparations for dinner which would begin in a few hours. They walked passed them all and headed to the back like last time, Thatch telling the brothers to go ahead while he grabbed some ingredients that they would need.

Luffy sat on one of the big tables, swinging his legs back and forth as he watched the chef's work, a smile on his face and stomach growling as he smelled the delicious aromas engulfing him. Ace was in a similar predicament, because enhanced smelling or not, he could smell some of the stronger scents of food wafting his way, making his stomach growl as he leaned against the table Luffy sat on. Sabo rolled his eyes and shook his head at his predictable brothers, but smiled as he stood near them as well, turning to look at the chefs as well and watching them run back and forth, grabbing or cooking things.

"I'm back! Now, first things first. Wash your hands!" Thatch said, rolling his sleeves up and smiling after he set down the armful of ingredients he had brought over. The brothers all nodded and headed to the sink, Sabo stopping the brothers from starting another water fight in the process. When they returned, Thatch had already set out bread and dips for Ace and Luffy and had separated ingredients into three piles based on who was doing what.

"Luffy, why don't we work on cupcakes this time? Sabo, you've got pies, and Ace, you're on cookies!" Thatch announced, handing them sheets of paper with recipes on them.

"Those are my top secret recipes, so don't go giving them to anyone else, got it?" The chef asked them with a wink. They smiled, promising not to as they headed off, trusting Thatch with Luffy.

Like last time, the group of four worked efficiently to get all the baked goods done on time. With the breads to distract them, Ace and Luffy didn't eat any of the uncooked desserts, and with Thatch's guidance, they were all able to get what needed to be done done. As the hours passed and the desserts baked, the four shared stories, laughed, and generally had a good time.

These were the times that the brothers had been hoping for. After seven years in hell, this is exactly what they had been wishing for after escaping. This peace, this familiarity, this normalcy, this warmth.

If they could continue having good times like this forever, it just might make up for all the damage that had been done to them.


	81. Taking the Hit

"Its alright Ace, it's just a dream, a nightmare." Sabo soothed, trying to wake Ace from whatever horrible dream he was having. The eldest was thrashing, a look of discomfort on his face as he shook his head back and forth. Luffy sat by his brother, frowning in worry as he counted out how long he was stuck.

"All you have to do is wake up, open your eyes. Everything's alright. We're all safe." Sabo continued, grabbing Ace's hand that had swung right for him and placing it at his brothers' side again.

"No one's going to hurt you." He tried again. Luffy's nose twitched and Sabo's ears pricked up, both using their senses as they noticed Marco heading towards their room.

"Can you take over Lu?" Sabo asked the youngest, earning a nod from the boy. Sabo stood, heading to the door while Luffy began mumbling to Ace, repeating the simple phrases over and over in hopes that it would wake their sleeping brother.

Marco's footsteps, in the meanwhile, grew closer and closer until he was right outside their door. He stopped, and Sabo anticipated the knock that came, swinging the door open before the Commander could knock a second time.

"Marco." He greeted with a tenser smile than usual.

"Sabo. Everything alright, yoi?" Marco asked, a hint of concern in his voice as he noticed the blondes demeanor. Behind him, Sabo heard Luffy continuing to coax Ace out of his sleep, but it didn't seem to be having any effect.

"Ace is stuck is all. He should be up soon, it's already been..." He trailed off, trying to think back to how long Ace had been in his nightmare.

"Fourteen minutes." Luffy's voice piped up, loud enough for Marco to hear before it quieted to low mumbles again.

"Fourteen minutes. They don't normally last longer than fifteen, twenty max." Sabo said, his tense smile returning.

"I see, yoi. Well, the crew members on watch said they might be seeing some ships in the distance, about two or three from the sounds of it. I was wondering if Ace could check if they were pirates or not, in case they might want a fight, yoi." Marco said, his worry still obvious.

"When he wakes up-" A sudden, loud gasp behind him had Sabo turning, allowing Marco a view of inside the room where Ace was sitting up, panting with wild eyes. Luffy, who had backed up to give Ace some space, moved toward him again, holding his hand while Sabo turned back to Marco, blocking the view again.

"We'll be out soon." He said, his smile laxer now, relief showing on his features while Marco nodded, thanking him before he left.

"Wha's goin' on?" Ace asked, having noticed Marco in the doorway.

"Watchmen think there are a couple of ships heading our way and Marco wanted to know if you could check them out. Tell them if they're pirates or not." Sabo explained, sitting at the foot of the bed while he watched Ace. The eldest nodded, running his fingers through his hair, grimacing at how slick and greasy it felt from his sweat.

"Sure. I need a bath after though." He said, Sabo, laughing while Luffy smiled.

"Honestly, we all do. Maybe we should hold off until after we find out if they're pirates or not though. No good getting clean if we're just going to get sweaty again from fighting." Sabo said. Ace nodded his agreement, getting out of the bed and heading to the desk to grab his journal before thinking better of it. The crew needed to know if these were enemies or not, so he would just have to wait until after he'd identified them to write.

"Let's go." Ace said. Sabo frowned, noticing Ace wasn't getting his journal like he seemed to have been doing at first.

"Not going to write?" He asked as he stood, Luffy grabbing his hat off the nightstand as he listened.

"I will after. It would be better to find out who the ships are first." Ace said with a shrug. Sabo seemed to accept the answer though, nodding.

"What about your senses? We should stay here for another minute. It'd be no good walking out and blinding yourself because you're not awake enough." Sabo said, referring to their heightened senses that got overwhelmed easily after waking up. Ace grumbled, forgetting about that.

"Fine, I'll write for a minute and then we'll go." He said, sitting in the chair and pulling out his journal. Sabo rolled his eyes but turned to Luffy who was twirling his hat between his hands.

"How'd you sleep Luffy?" Sabo asked his brother, moving to sit on the bed while he waited for Ace. Luffy looked at him, a smile plastered pleasantly on his face.

"Great! I didn't even have a single nightmare last night!" Luffy responded cheerily, Sabo's eyebrows raising.

"Really? That's good." He said honestly. It was rare that any of them had a night where they only had a nightmare or two, but to have none at all was a blessing they hadn't had the luxury of having lately.

Sabo and Luffy chatted for another minute, waiting until Ace was finished so they could head out on deck. It didn't take too long, and soon Ace was opening their desk drawer, placing his journal back inside before standing and stretching his arms.

"There, done. Can we go now?" Ace asked Sabo as if he needed permission. Sabo rolled his eyes but nodded, standing.

"Yes, we can go now." He relented. Ace grinned along with Luffy as they both headed to the door, ready to go out on the deck.

"What's got you so excited anyways Ace?" Sabo asked, noticing Aces eagerness to go identify the ships.

"A fight, what else? If these are pirates looking for a fight its probably gonna be a good one if there's more then one ship. Even if its marines, that just makes it all the better." Ace said, grinning at the thought of being able to fight marines. He hated them with a passion, just as much as Sabo and Luffy did, and as much as they wanted to avoid them, they wouldn't pass up fighting them either.

"If it _is_ going to be a fight you better be careful. We haven't fought big groups like this before." Sabo warned, not wanting anyone to get hurt, though that was inevitable when it came to fighting.

"It's not any different from fighting small groups. It's just more people." Ace said with a shrug as they walked out onto the deck. Ace narrowed in on where Marco stood with Whitebeard and headed their way, his brothers following behind him. Soon the two spotted the brothers as well and Marco began heading their way.

"I'm glad you're alright Ace, yoi," Marco said with a smile, reminding the eldest that he had been trapped in a nightmare when Marco came by earlier.

"Gonna take more than stupid nightmares to keep me down." He said with a nonchalant shrug. Even though being stuck in nightmares sucked a ton more than just having normal nightmares, he wasn't going to show anyone how truly bothered he was by it. Besides, he was trying his best to ignore the residual fear and anxiety that he felt from the nightmare.

"So where'd they see the ships?" Ace asked in an attempt to change the subject, looking over the railings, trying his best to spot wherever they were.

"Over here. They're still too far for our telescopes, but they're close enough to see that there's more than one, yoi." Marco said, walking over to the railing and pointing off in a direction. Ace walked up beside him and peered into the distance, spotting the ships immediately.

"Oh, yeah, I see 'em. There's three ships. The one in front's bigger but all of them have the same jolly roger so they're definitely pirates. It looks like the usual skull and crossbones, but there's something around it. Like... bubbles or something. Bubbles with bubbles in 'em." Ace said, trying his best to describe what he was seeing to those who couldn't.

"Bubbles with bubbles?" Jiru asked, having been nearby.

"Its the best way I can explain it." Ace said with a shrug, turning to look to the Commanders and Whitebeard.

"You think you could draw a picture of it?" Marco asks, Ace nodding.

"Yeah, definitely."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"A fight it is then." Thatch said with an excited grin.

"And after I just got freshened up," Izo said with a sigh, waving himself off with one of his many fans.

"At least you didn't just get back from fighting a bunch of upstart rookies." Blamenco moaned, having just got back recently from a mission with his division.

"In any case, there's three ships so even if they're weak, they have numbers. If they're strong, they have the potential to put up a hell of a fight." Vista said, twirling his mustache.

"Which is why it's a good thing Ace here was able to identify them so soon for us so we could get prepared!" Rakuyo said, patting Ace on the back. The teen smiled, unsure how to take the praise while Sabo and Luffy both snickered at their brother's obvious discomfort.

"All we can do for now is get ready seeing as they'll be here soon. You all should go warn your divisions and get your weapons ready." Whitebeard said, the commanders nodding before heading off to do just that. The brothers stayed with the Captain, deciding it was the best place for them if they wanted to stay out of the way.

They watched patiently as the crew got themselves ready for the upcoming fight, Sabo relaying to the Captain and Commanders that the pirates heading their way were definitely looking for a fight. Soon enough, everyone was ready and waiting for the pirates, ones Haruta identified as the Sea Terrors after he saw the flag Ace redrew for them. He also knew that the Captain had a devil fruit, but was unaware as to which fruit it was. Apparently, anyone the crew fought, didn't live to tell the tale, except for one sole survivor who had spread the rumor of the Captain having a fruit.

Once the ships were close enough, it was a flurry of action as cannons were fired, pirates boarded the Moby, and vice versa with the Whitebeards boarding the enemy ships. The brothers were told they could stay near Thatch during this fight so that Marco could fly over the enemy's ships and make sure everything went smoothly there, ready to help anyone in case they needed it. Even though the pirates trusted the brothers' ability to defend themselves, it was more for everyone's peace of mind that a commander stay near the trio.

The fight was going well so far, the Whitebeards, as usual, on the offensive and winning. As predicted, it was a tougher fight than any of the others they had had lately, many actually putting up a sweat as they fought. The trio of brothers were in their normal formation, each watching another's back and trusting that their own was being watched as well. They tore through crowds of pirates with practiced ease, smiling gleefully as they did.

Of course, they were recognized as the Demon Trio quickly which attracted more of the pirates' attention, all wanting their bounty. It didn't matter though as they continued burning, stretching, and knocking pirates out with pipes, enjoying it all the while as they did.

The fight was coming to a close, many pirates still standing, but not at their full stamina after the half-hour that this fight had already lasted. Ace had just knocked out yet another pirate thug that thought he would be an easy target when he spotted another one of the Whitebeards about to be attacked. The man was already fighting three enemies in the front, and from behind the enemy Captain was sneaking up on him, a malicious grin on his face as his hand began to glow, most likely from his devil fruit.

Without thinking, Ace flung himself towards his fellow crew mate, knocking them out of the way of the Captain. However, in the process, he ended up taking the attack full force. He heard Sabo and Luffy shout his name, he saw the enemy Captain's surprise as he took the attack, and then, everything burned, which was odd seeing as he was fire, and then it went black.

At least he saved his crew mate.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy shouted, watching as the enemy Captain used his attack on Ace rather than the man he had first intended it to be used on. The two flew into action immediately, Sabo swinging his pipe into the Captain's head, making the man fly back into the railing while Luffy rushed over to Ace.

As he did, he checked on his brother's wave, trying to assess how bad the damage was, and was confused, and a slight bit terrified, to find the wave flickering in and out of his vision. For a second he wondered if his powers were being a bit wonky, but after checking Sabo's and seeing the bright, opaque yellow wave, he figured it had something to do with Ace himself.

That couldn't be good.

Kneeling beside his brother, who was unconscious on the deck, he felt for a heartbeat, finding it quickly. There didn't look to be any injuries, but that didn't explain why he was unconscious or why his wave was flickering like that.

Sabo joined him shortly after, and Luffy realized Thatch was pinning the enemy Captain to the ground, another crewmate from Thatch's division running up and cuffing the Captain. The fight was dwindling down around them, and when he drew his attention back to Ace, he realized that his brother seemed to be... shrinking? He blinked a few times, looking to Sabo who looked just as confused and scared as he felt.

"What happened?" Izo asked as he came over, his own eyes full of confusion as he watched their brother get smaller and smaller.

"He jumped in front of an attack- because he's a suicidal idiot- and now he's shrinking. I think its got to do with whatever that guys devil fruit is." Sabo said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to where Thatch was questioning the enemy Captain, glancing worriedly in Aces direction every few seconds.

"Is there anything else wrong? You know, besides the whole shrinking thing?" Izo asked, looking over Aces chest for any sign of injury.

"Other than being unconscious, I don't think so," Sabo said. The enemy crew was taken care of now, all of them either in the sea or on their battered ships as they left there, obviously captured, Captain behind.

"What's happening?" Marco asked as he changed back into his human form, landing lightly in between Ace and the enemy Captain. Izo told him what was happening while nurses began rushing on deck, helping the injured to the infirmary. Whiskey's familiar face began heading their way, concern in her eyes as she saw the crowd around Ace.

"His waves flickering," Luffy said as the nurse reached them, having been watching it this entire time in fear that it would disappear completely.

"Flickering? Has it done that before, yoi." Marco asked, both Luffy and Sabo shaking their heads.

"No. It keeps disappearing and then coming back in flashes. it's not getting see-through though." Luffy said, implying that Ace was in good health despite everything. Their once tall 17-year-old brother had now shrunk down to what looked to be when he was in his earlier teens, maybe from the age range of 12-15. The rest of the Commanders were here now, and Whitebeard was only a few feet away, able to see and hear everything.

"What fruit do you have?" Thatch asked from where he was still pinning down the enemy Captain who seemed too scared not to answer.

"I-I have the Saibō-Saibō no mi." He stuttered out, everyone's attention turning to him, wanting to know what he had done to Ace.

"The cell-cell fruit? What's that got to do with Ace shrinking?" Izo asked with an angry frown as he walked over to the man, crouching down to look him in the eye.

"I-I have the power to manipulate cells, and with it, I c-can regress them to exactly how they were years ago. When cells regrow, they grow with new information, and when I regress them back, its as if they're at the point in their life when their cells had less knowledge. They don't have the same knowledge that the mature cells had, thus, the body reverts back to how it was at the point in time matching the point in time the cells are at. The brain loses the information it gained, and all they remember is whatever they already knew when they were living with those cells." He explained shakily, practically trembling in Thatch's hold. Everyone shared looks of confusion, not quite following the man's explanation.

"Alright, that hurt my brain trying to follow that." Blenheim moaned, rubbing his temple. Whiskey frowned as well, following the explanation better than the others and not liking what she heard as she gave Ace a check-up.

"So in simple terms, you regressed Aces cells back to when he was a young teen, and now all he remembers is whatever he knew back then?" She asked after deducing nothing was seriously wrong at the moment with him. She did hear something in his lungs though that she didn't like, like a fluid.

"Exactly!" The Captain affirmed with wide eyes, nodding, hoping if he cooperated he would be spared.

"And how do we change him back?" Sabo asked with a scowl. because the more the man spoke, the worse the news got. Luffy seemed to understand just as much as he did how bad it would be if Ace, a possible preteen at the moment, only remembered being in the facility and suddenly woke up to find himself surrounded by people he didn't know.

"Oh, I can't do that." The Captain deadpanned.

"What? What do you mean ' _you can't do that?!_ '" Thatch asked, shaking the man a bit in anger.

"I-It means, unless you want him to lose all of his memories from after he was that age, I can't do that. Regrowing cells is much different then regressing them. I would need to know exactly how they were when I regressed them, and last I checked, he jumped in front of my attack that was meant for someone else. I didn't exactly take the time to remember what information had been stored." The Captain defended, only getting glares in response.

"Does that mean he's stuck like this forever? Has to relive his life from this point?" Sabo asked, trying to keep his own anger in check, not wanting to influence Luffy who already had to manage all of the Commanders' anger. Whitebeard watched from his chair with a frown of his own, hands gripping tightly to the arms of his chair.

"No. I may be able to regress cells, but that doesn't mean it stays that way forever. If it did, that would be the key to immortality right there. No, it'll last an indeterminate amount of time, anywhere from a few days, to a few weeks. The body will... for lack of a better term, go through a dramatic growth spurt and then, boom, you'll have your friend back just the way he was." The Captain said in a rush, trying to save himself as best he could.

"So what your saying is your useless to us now, yoi," Marco said with an arched eyebrow, many of the Commanders smiling as they caught on to Marco's words.

"Y-yes..." The man admitted hesitantly, not liking the looks.

"Alright. Thatch, go ahead." Marco said with a wave of his hand, Thatch grinning as he lifted the man up. The enemy captain began blubbering, but Thatch shoved him over the railing without another word, all of them hearing the distant splash as he hit the water.

"Asshole," Namur muttered, many nodding in agreement.

Sabo and Luffy shared a look before turning to Ace. Whiskey was finished looking him over, turning to look at every one.

"I don't know how, but he's got fluid in his lungs which I don't like, and his heart rate is skyrocketing. Its almost as if he was drowning, or is in the process of drowning." Whiskey said to them.

"How? That ass Captain only said he's basically de-aged, nothing about drowning." Rakuyo said. Sabo and Luffy's frown deepened.

"He said he regressed his cells though, that the body is using past information to constitute itself right now. At this point in Ace's life, he was in the facility, a place where they did a number of tests to us." Sabo muttered darkly, already thinking of a few tests the doctors had done involving water and drowning.

"That's right, I forgot... Does that mean he won't remember us?" Haruta asked.

"Most likely. When he wakes up, you guys shouldn't be close. We don't know what powers he has yet, and I'd rather he not attempt to fight you all thinking you're doctors or something." Sabo said while Luffy held their brother's hand. Sabo couldn't give any more warnings though before Ace groaned, eyebrows slanting in what looked to be pain.

And then he gasped, shooting upright.


	82. Growing Up Again

Ace coughed and sputtered while Sabo rubbed his back gently, worry creasing his brows. Luffy sat beside them, holding on tightly to Ace's hand while he gagged, water coming out as he did and tears pricking his eyes.

"Ace? You alright?" Sabo asked hesitantly.

"Those damn bastards, no one can fucking hold their fucking breath for five minutes!" Ace growled out as he coughed up more water, the tears falling as his nose and throat burned.

"What happened?" Sabo asked, trying to get information from Ace before he realized something was up and inevitably closed up.

"The damn doctors thought it'd be a good idea to see if Luffy and I could hold our breath in these stupid tanks for five minutes, that's what." Ace said bitterly, wiping his tears away harshly as he did and blinking a few times, trying to rid them from his eyes.

"Wait- Wheres Luffy? Is he ok?" Ace asked in a slight panic, looking up fully now and noticing everyone surrounding him. His eyes widened, taking in everything from the plethora of pirates surrounding them, to Sabo and Luffy, who looked taller and... _different_ then he remembered, sitting on either side of him, to the fact that he wasn't in his cell anymore, to the lack of cuffs on his wrists, and then finally, to the sun. The sun, the sky, the clouds, and even the ocean.

"W-where are we? What's going on?" He asked, voice going low and dangerous, a scowl forming quickly. Was this another test? He had no clue, but he wasn't going to let anyone here hurt him or his brothers if he could help it.

"Ace, calm down, its alright, we're safe." Sabo tried soothing, Luffy nodding beside him. Ace didn't speak for a second as he turned to look at Sabo, and then Luffy, skepticism in his eyes as he did. Something was wrong here, and if he didn't know any better, he would say that his two brothers looked older.

He scooted a bit away from them just to be safe.

'Are you really Sabo and Luffy?' He asked, using their more expressive silent language, the one they had first created before they had to modify it for Ace and Luffy who didn't have access to moving their hand's thanks to their cuffs.

'We are.' Luffy answered back with ease. It may have been a long time since they had used this version of their language, but it was like riding a bike. Once you knew it, no matter how long in between using it, you would still know it.

'Then why do you look different?' Ace asked, hands making gestures that the pirates couldn't understand.

"They have two secret languages?!" Haruta asked in a surprised whisper to the other commanders who shrugged. None of them recognized the signing and gestures the brothers were using as anything they'd taught them. There were no taps, just gestures with their hands, from Ace flicking his fingers, to pointing to his eyes, and even miming a, what seemed to be, hat at one point.

'That's... kind of hard to explain. Ace, how old are you?' Sabo asked, still trying to find the best way to explain everything to his brother.

'How do you not know, you're the same age- or at least normal you is.' Ace said, eyeing Sabo again wearily.

'Humor me.' Sabo said with a roll of his eyes. Ace watched him again for a minute, eyes flickering to Luffy as well, before responding.

'14.' He eventually signed, Sabo and Luffy both frowning at that.

"Great," Sabo said with a sigh, confusing everyone watching.

"Can you tell me what the hell's happening now? Is this another stupid test?" Ace asked, eyes narrowing on the pirates again.

"No, it's not a test Ace. We're not in the facility anymore." Sabo said carefully, watching his brother as he spoke.

"We're... not?" He asked. Even though they obviously weren't, it was still hard for him to believe.

"No, we're on a pirate ship-"

"The Whitebeards!" Luffy cut in with a bright grin, surprising Ace momentarily.

"-The Whitebeards ship. I know this might be a bit hard to believe, but trust me when I say that Luffy and I, we're three years older then you remember." Sabo said, only getting a skeptical look from Ace which he expected.

"Three years older? And you're trying to tell me this isn't another test?" Ace asked, obviously not believing his brother.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private for this discussion, hm?" Whitebeard asked, drawing Ace's attention. His eyes widened at the size of the Captain, but Sabo and Luffy didn't even flinch as they looked at the man, both looking relieved and nodding in agreement with him.

What the hell was going on?!

"Come on Ace, don't worry, no one here is going to hurt us," Sabo said, standing along with Luffy. Still hesitant, Ace slowly got up as well, wincing at the burning and strain in his chest that he still felt from nearly drowning.

He watched as some of the people near the giant man headed off inside the- he was on a ship, right?- ship, another giving orders to the rest of the people around them as they did. And these weren't doctors?

His eyes flickered briefly to a woman standing nearby, looking at him with worry but not making any moves towards him. He noticed the nurses cap on her head though, and immediately felt his skin prickle at being near the nurse.

"Don't worry Ace, she's nice! Her names Whiskey!" Luffy chirped beside him, grabbing his hand tightly in his own. Ace turned to look at Luffy with a raised eyebrow, showing just how little he believed that statement. Luffy pouted.

"It's true! Shes helped us a lot, and I like her, even if she is a little scary to me still." Luffy said defiantly, although mumbling the last bit. Ace frowned but didn't say anything as he followed his brothers into the ship, the giant getting up behind them and following. His skin practically itched at all the stares, all the people, the nurse, and now the giant behind them. Sabo and Luffy seemed fine, save for the pensive look on Sabo's face, but they weren't reacting at all the way Ace had been expecting them to.

Which once again begged the question, what the hell was happening here?!

Soon enough they were all sitting in a room with a big table that had snails sitting on it, the giant at one end, the brothers on the other.

"Can someone tell me what's happening now?" Ace asked, still inclined to believe that this was all another one of the facilities tests. Yes, it would have to be extremely elaborate, but he wouldn't put it past them to create something like this.

Oh, or he was dreaming. Maybe hallucinating. He had been drowning what felt like minutes ago now, so it was possible he had actually just passed out and was now having some crazy dream.

"Ace, me and Luffy are three years older then you remember. I'm 17 and Luffy's 14." Sabo said, a little too calmly for his liking.

"Yeah, you said that before, but that doesn't mean it makes sense." Ace said arms crossed over his chest as he frowned.

"It may sound crazy, but, well, a few minutes ago, you were 17 too," Sabo said. Ace stared at Sabo, no expression on his face as he did.

"Right. Really, what did the doctors give you?" Ace asked, still no expression.

"I'm serious Ace. As I said, it's kind of difficult to explain and crazy to hear, but you were 17. We've been here with the Whitebeards for two months, almost three now. They helped us escape from the facility, which we had been in for seven years." Sabo said, gesturing to the pirates as he spoke. Luffy shifted in the chair beside him, but Ace didn't pay him much mind, focusing all of his attention on Sabo.

"And how does that explain the fact that I'm definitely not 17 and I've only been in the facility four years now?" Ace growled out, thinking more and more that this was a test, and if that was the case, he wasn't going to make it easy for these bastards to get whatever result they wanted.

"We were just in a fight, with other pirates, and one of them had a devil fruit. His ability allowed him to revert your cells how they were years ago. In simple terms, he de-aged you and in the process, you lost all of your memories from the years you lost." Sabo explained.

"Uh-huh." Ace hummed, still clearly not believing. Sabo sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Ace, I'm telling you the truth. What do you want me to say? That this is another test? Because it's not." Sabo said with a hint of exasperation.

"We were in the tanks. Right?" Luffy asked suddenly, confusing everyone in the room.

"Tanks?" Kingdew asked, looking to Jiru who shrugged.

"And... Haru... he wanted us to hold our breath. 5 minutes." Luffy said, eyes on his hands which were resting in his lap.

"And they dunked us over and over and over and over and-" Sabo stopped the youngests' rambling, reaching over and putting his hand on Luffy's. Ace was frowning, watching Luffy as he spoke, but not saying anything in return.

"But then we finally do it and they let us go back to our cell, but we have to wear the cuffs all the time, so we cant move our hands easy to make the signs anymore. Sabo says we should change it to taps, so that its easier for us to talk with each other." Luffy continues, looking up and watching Ace now.

"And he says that this could mean explosion, and you think it's stupid," Luffy says, flicking his fingers, and Sabo's frown deepens, remembering exactly what happened next as well. Ace watched and had to admit that that sounded like him.

"And we start doing a few more, and then there's a loud noise, and it smells bad, and Sabo can't really hear anymore cause the boom was really loud, and everyone's screaming, and you look down the hall, and then there's the fire." Luffy's voice grows soft, eyes distant as he turns to look at the table, as if he was back in his cell, watching the glow of the flames get brighter and brighter as they grew closer, the heat slowly becoming suffocating.

"And it gets to our cell, but we're in cuffs and locked in so we go to the corner, and then you say it's gonna be ok and that you're not gonna let a fire kill us after four years, and then the fires in our cell, and you go in it, and Sabo's holding me really tight. But the fire doesn't hurt us, and we sit there for a really long time, but we don't move, cause we don't want the fire to start hurting us, but then the fires finally gone, and you're there, and the doctors come in and take us to the lab and give us the good medicine, and we're ok. Cause you kept us safe. That's what happens next." Luffy says, finishing his ramblings and turning to Ace again, taking in the shocked expression on his brother's face, feeling the turmoil in him.

The rooms silent now as everyone takes in what Luffy had just said, no one speaking as they mull over his words. It stays this way for a few seconds that feel like hours, but finally Ace clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention.

"Alright, so say I believe this, how do I become 17 again?" He asked, Sabo giving him a small smile.

"Apparently we just have to wait." The blonde said with a shrug, Ace giving him an incredulous look.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! If it were up to me this wouldn't have even happened in the first place!" Sabo said holding his hands up defensively. Ace rolled his eyes, turning to look at the pirates now.

"Since I don't remember anything, what are you're names?" He asked roughly. He'd grown up with bandits and then was taken to a facility where he wasn't exactly given the best treatment, so of course, he didn't have the best people skills.

"I'm Whitebeard, the Captain," Whitebeard said with a warm smile, one that made Ace pause. He hadn't seen someone smile to him like that since Emily, and before that it was Makino. No one else had ever looked at him like that, and he wondered how the Captain managed to do it. Surely he knew what had happened in the facility, Sabo and Luffy didn't hesitate to talk about it in front of them, so how could he look at him like a person, and not a monster?

He wasn't able to think on it much longer as the introductions continued, and he learned that everyone in here was a commander on the crew. Now that Ace seemed to believe them, they decided that they could leave the room now, Sabo and Luffy telling him that they were actually apart of the crew, something that he didn't know if he was going to be able to believe, but once they showed him their tattoos, it became a bit hard to deny it.

All of them left the room, Ace asking Sabo and Luffy questions as they did, occasionally glancing at the Commanders and Captain who were following behind them as he did. Everything seemed to check out, but it was, still, unbelievable. I mean, it's not like it's a usual occurrence for someone to be sent back to their early teens with no memories of there future.

"We even went to Fishman Island, but it's under the water so we had to get this cool bubble around the whole ship! And we saved Shiba- Shiro- Shirahoshi from this mean pirate!" Luffy said happily beside him, Sabo nodding when Luffy finally got the name right.

"Oh yeah?" Ace asked a bit absentmindedly as he once again glanced behind them.

"Mm! And you were mad cause you beat Barbra with one hit." Luffy said, laughing to himself while Sabo corrected the name to Decken, making Ace wonder how Luffy had gotten it so wrong. Also, Barbra was a girl's name, right?

"Besides Lu, this is Ace we're talking about, he's still mad," Sabo said, rolling his eyes and sending Ace a smirk. He returned it with a scowl, but that only made Sabo laugh at him.

"Haha, let's make fun of the guy who doesn't have the memories to defend himself. And for the record, I bet I'm not still angry about it." Ace remarked indignantly, sticking his tongue out childishly at Sabo, who returned the gesture.

Ace decided to ignore the snickers he heard coming from the group behind them.

They finally walked back out onto the deck and, like before, all eyes turned to look at him. Of course, when Ace was uncomfortable the only way he knew how to express that discomfort was to get angry, which is exactly what he did. He bristled, tensed, and a glare formed on his face. He was ready to start yelling or cursing, maybe even both, but Luffy grabbed his hand instead. It stopped him from speaking as he turned to look at his younger- wait, weren't they the same age now? It didn't matter, he would always be Luffy's older brother, and besides, his birthday was the first of the year, so he was still the oldest anyhow- brother and saw the childish smile from all those years ago light up on Luffy's face.

"Ne, Ace, let's go look at the waves! They're really pretty, and we can look at the sky too, and the clouds- ah, but not the sun! Sabo says we shouldn't look at the sun cause it'll hurt our eyes, and Sabo's smart so he's probably right, but what if we _could_ look at the sun? What do you think it would look like? I bet it would look like a lemon! Oh, or maybe an egg? Or meat!" Sabo watched as Luffy dragged Ace off to the railing, their usual spot near Whitebeard, rambling on and on, yet effectively distracting Ace from all the curious eyes that had been looking his way.

It always amazed him how effortlessly Luffy could distract someone, whether he meant to do it or not. Sabo had seen the way Ace had tensed, the look on his brother's face screaming how uncomfortable he was and how he was, naturally, channeling all of that discomfort into anger. Luffy had surely felt it as well, but now he'd dragged Ace off and stopped him from thinking about it, instead showing him the freedom that their brother didn't quite know he had yet.

Sabo walked over to them, noticing that the Commanders were all dispersing and Whitebeard was heading to his chair. Ace and Luffy were sitting on the railing, so Sabo opted to sit where Ace normally did on the ground, back against the wall-like railing. He looked up, watching the sky as he listened to Luffy continue to ramble on and on about what different foods the sun could look like. Ace occasionally responded, but for the most part, remained silent.

After a little bit of this, Luffy's eyes shifted away from the sky, a slight frown forming as he turned his head slightly to look at the deck out of the corner of his eye. He started to tap, and Sabo immediately started translating the words in his head until Luffy suddenly stopped, frown leaving into a sheepish grin.

"Ah, right." He said aloud, confusing Sabo until Luffy began using the more expressive silent language, the only one 14-year-old Ace knew. Ace watched as Luffy signed, Sabo turning his head to watch as well, and the blonde immediately frowned, Ace looking confused.

'Let's go to Whitebeard.' Sabo signed. Ace asked what was happening, but Sabo told him he'd explain once they were with the Captain, eyes looking across the deck towards something. Ace looked as well but didn't know who he was looking at. He frowned, not liking being in the dark, but followed his brothers as they walked over to the Captain who didn't look surprised in the slightest at their appearance.

'Teach is a bad guy, we're watching him. Whitebeards know and are watching him too. We've been waiting for him to do something.' Sabo explained to Ace whose frown deepened, but he nodded his understanding. Obviously, his future self- or was it present self? Past self? Deaging was confusing- hadn't done anything to stop the man, so he guessed he was ok with the plan they had in place. It didn't mean he liked it though, but really, he didn't like any of this. It was still an unbelievable situation he was in after all.

They had only been sitting with the Captain for a half-hour, Ace listening to him tell stories when he felt the familiar fuzziness of his mind clue him into the fact that he was about to have a sleep attack. Within seconds of this realization, he was slumping forward, but Luffy caught him before any damage could be done. Sabo's eyes drifted briefly to Ace in concern before focusing back to the deck as he listened to Teach.

The attack didn't last more than two minutes, but that didn't stop the Commanders nearby from watching in concern. It didn't look fun to suddenly lose consciousness in the middle of whatever you were doing.

Ace woke up, springing upwards immediately, eyes hazy and unfocused as he tried figuring out where he was, what happened, and what he'd missed.

"With Whitebeards, he stopped his story for you, Sabo's still listening," Luffy said softly to him. Ace cleared his throat and blinked a few times, trying to ignore the stares from the Commanders and Captain as he nodded.

"Sorry-" Ace cut off as he slumped again, Luffy immediately catching him once again, frowning. Sabo stopped listening to Teach, watching Ace with concern while the Commanders blinked in surprise. Ace had never had two attacks so close together like that, and they wondered if it was a bad thing.

"Forgot how bad they used to be," Sabo muttered as he helped Luffy try and position their brother into a more comfortable position.

"So... it's normal to have two attacks back to back?" Fossa asked.

"Not exactly. It's possible, but its more that with a lack of sleep and poor health, not to mention extreme emotional states nearly constantly, the attacks can get worse. When we were in the facility it wasn't surprising for Ace to have multiple attacks daily, multiple days in a row. With his body being sent back like it has, we should expect him to have a lot of sleep attacks until he's back to normal, and maybe even a little after that." Sabo explained as Ace began to wake up again, looking confused once more. Luffy immediately launched back into a retelling of what he'd missed while Sabo went back to listening to Teach, but not before sending Ace a look of concern.

The Commanders all tried their best to focus anywhere but Ace, knowing that the young teen wouldn't take too kindly to them staring. They were basically strangers to him now, even if that was a strange thought to have.

Whitebeard launched back into his storytelling, starting from right before Ace had fallen asleep to assure that the oldest, now tied youngest, didn't miss anything. Ace looked around with shifty eyes, almost daring someone to ask about his attacks, but when no one said anything to him he gradually relaxed, absorbed in the story once again.

Eventually, it was time for lunch to begin. The brothers held back for a minute with Whitebeard and Marco, all of them knowing that it would be best to let the rush head into the galley first before heading there themselves, especially with a fresh-out-of-the-facility Ace. As the deck slowly emptied, the group decided to head in as well, Ace trailing along, almost unsure.

Inside was a rambunctious crowd of pirates, all getting plates of food and chatting loudly amongst themselves as they did. Aces eyes scanned everything and everyone, taking in all the sounds, scents, and sights he could. He followed his brothers to a spot at a table filled with all of the Commanders, Whitebeard, and Marco sitting with them as they did.

Ace didn't even have to wonder where they were going to get their food or what food he should even be expecting to get when the chef, Thatch his mind supplied, came bustling over with plates on platters piled high with delicious-looking food. One of the large servings went to the Captain which made sense, but the rest all came straight to the brothers, Sabo thanking the chef while Luffy licked his lips excitedly, bouncing in place.

Ace could only stare, dumbfounded, at his plate filled with a delicious array of foods, some still steaming. His mouth watered as he looked to Sabo, almost as if to ask if he was allowed to eat, and when the blonde nodded, a smile on his face, Ace still couldn't find it in himself to eat.

Years had passed- at least in his mind it had- since he'd last eaten a proper meal, actual food. It was foreign to him, but he picked up his fork regardless, waiting for someone to laugh and take the food from him, replace it with the ungodly bowl of soup the doctors called a meal.

No-one stopped him though, and he slowly picked some food up on his fork before eating it, the flavors exploding in his mouth and nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

"It's good, right? Thatch makes the best food ever! Better than the gross soup!" Luffy said joyously at his side, tongue sticking out in disgust at the mention of the soup. Ace, still speechless, could only nod while Thatch beamed in pride.

"To be fair, I think anything anyone cooks would taste better than the soup, but I have to agree, Thatch's food is pretty good," Sabo said from where he sat on Luffy's other side.

The normalcy between Sabo and Luffy was off-putting to Ace, but he tried to take it in stride, knowing that this was a strange situation for everyone and it wouldn't do anyone any good if he went and got angry for things no one could control. Besides, he was too happy that he was eating real, honest to goodness food to care about anything else right now.

Lunch passed in a blur of bliss for Ace. He ignored all of the conversations around him, grateful no one was attempting to force him into any conversation in the first place. His food was scarfed down in record timing, and he almost wished he had savored it more for when he inevitably had to eat that green garbage again.

But they were out.

The concept, along with many others, was still strange to him as well. To be free. Out of the facility. He and his brothers had been there for years, and to wake up after a test to find he had escaped, had been out of the facility for months without remembering any of it, was something that he would probably never wrap his mind around.

He tried not to focus too much on that though, following his brothers as they talked about how they should go take bathes now that lunch was over. As much as Ace longed to take an actual bath, to get clean, he couldn't stop the flashbacks of only hours ago where, in his mind, he had been forced into tanks of water, forced to hold his breath until he was drowning, and then even longer than that.

He shivered involuntarily, ignoring Luffy as he looked his way with a hint of a frown.

They reached the bathroom within minutes of walking, and the process of getting cleaned was so mundane, so normal, something Ace never thought he'd have the luxury of doing again, that it was almost as good as when he got to eat actual food again. It was practically therapeutic.

"So how long have we, uh, been here?" Ace asked once the three were back in their room. Luffy had been complaining that his hair was starting to get too long and wanted Sabo to cut it for him, which was what the blonde was getting ready to do now, Luffy sitting in their desk chair while Sabo held a pair of scissors, brushing Luffy's hair as straight as possible with his fingers, removing tangles as he did.

"About two months. Almost three." Sabo answered without thought, still absorbed in his task. He chastised Luffy for squirming in his chair too much which made Ace smile before asking another question.

"And we joined? Like... _joined_ joined?" Ace asked, looking to the tattoo he could see on Sabo's shoulder. His brother was wearing a sleeveless shirt for the moment showing off both his tattoo and his scars. Luffy turned to look at Ace, grin on his face.

"Mm! They said we could leave whenever we wanted if we wanted to, so we decided we'd join 'em! I'm still gonna be King of the pirates though, so I'm gonna leave when I'm seventeen." Luffy said determinedly, Sabo raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? Seventeen?" He asked. From the sounds of it, Luffy had never mentioned that before.

"Yeah! Cause we got out when you guys were seventeen, so I'll leave when I'm seventeen." Luffy affirmed. Sabo chuckled, snipping a few chunks of hair away as he did.

"Well, I guess that means you'll be here for another few years then." He said fondly. Ace watched silently from the bed, a warmth in his chest as he did. His brothers both seemed happy, something he'd always wanted for them.

He'd always been told he was a monster, a child of the devil, someone who should never have been born, much less someone who deserved happiness. He deserved to have horrible things done to him, like the facility, like all the tests, all the pain. He deserved it.

But Sabo and Luffy? They didn't.

His two brothers were innocent in all of this. They didn't deserve to have to go through everything that happened at the facility. They deserved freedom, they deserved happiness, they deserved... deserved a world without him in it. Without him, they wouldn't have been tainted. Tainted by his demon blood. Dragged into his world that was filled with pain, with unfairness, with despair.

If it meant his brothers could be free, could be happy, he would spend the rest of his life in the facility. Hell, he would die if it meant they never had to worry about something as horrible as the facility ever again.

"You're the best Ace," Luffy said, snapping the older raven from his thoughts. Ace looked to his brother, blinking in confusion as Luffy turned to smile to him. It wasn't his bright, big, D smile. It was softer, smaller, but it showed just as much emotion as any other smile he'd ever shown before.

"Uh, thanks..." Ace muttered, face flushing at the sudden compliment, his gaze dropping to the blankets he sat on rather than his brother. He didn't understand how anyone could like him, much less willingly become brothers with him. He didn't deserve it, but when Luffy said things like that, he almost believed it. Almost felt like he could have the family he'd always desperately wanted. It was selfish of him, but he wanted it.

It was quiet amongst them as Sabo finished trimming Luffy's hair, and then the blonde was handing him the scissors, asking Ace to cut his hair for him which Ace agreed to, standing and heading to the chair. As Luffy stood, he turned and hugged Ace tightly, both shocking and stopping him from moving any further.

"Luffy?" Ace asked in confusion, not sure what to do. He knew Luffy was clingy, not to mention much more affectionate then he was, but this had been so sudden, without reason, that it was unexpected.

"Hm?" Luffy hummed, face buried out of view. Ace was shorter than his seventeen-year-old self but still taller then Luffy was by a few inches, so when Luffy pulled away his grinning face was only mere inches below his.

"Shishishi, your face is funny Ace!" Luffy laughed as he bounced over to the bed. Ace sputtered, trying to figure out if it was an insult or not, but he couldn't respond when he heard Sabo laughing from where he sat in his chair.

"What, cat got your tongue Ace? Gotta say, Luffy's right, your face is pretty funny." Sabo laughed. Ace glared at the blonde as he walked over, snipping the scissors a few times in the air.

"Oh yeah? I think you forgot that I'm about to cut your hair. Let's see if I can make it look as funny as my face then." Ace threatened. Sabo blanched, ducking when Ace made a grab for his head, still holding the scissors in the air, ready to cut.

"Gah! Hey, woah, no! Hey- ah! Ace, stop- no, I was kidding- _don't you dare!_ " Luffy laughed loudly as he watched his two older brothers, Sabo ducking and diving around their room as Ace chased him with the scissors, barking at the blonde to hold still. The heavy feelings that had been coming from Ace earlier were long gone now, only replaced by the light feelings of happiness, warmth, love.

The youngest basked in those feelings. They radiated from his brothers like furnaces, and he found himself letting them all in.

If it could always be like this, then that would truly be paradise.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Waking up, Ace was extremely disoriented. His head hurt, his body ached, and he felt... older? As if a lot of time had passed in the blink of an eye. He couldn't really remember exactly where he was. He had memories of this place, but they felt far away as if he experienced this all months ago.

At the forefront of his memory, he could see the facility. He felt as if just last night, he'd fallen asleep in their dark, cold, cell. The memory of the amazing meal from the chef was long gone, replaced by the taste of the soup he felt he had just eaten last night. The feeling of actually getting clean was gone. Instead, he felt grimy and dirty. Sweaty. Gross.

All of the pleasantness he remembered from the Whitebeards ship was replaced with the onslaught of memories he suddenly had from the facility.

Beside him, Luffy shifted. Not on the ground, not groaning in pain and discomfort, but snuggling further into the blankets and the mattress beneath him. Sabo was on the other end, sleeping peacefully, without a care. Luffy's straw hat sat on the nightstand with two other hats, one that looked strikingly familiar to Ace as Sabo's old hat, and one he remembered to have been wearing when he was with the Whitebeards.

Had that been a dream? Or had the facility been the dream? He was with the Whitebeards now, but he felt as if he had been in the facility just last night.

What had Sabo told him before? It felt like digging for a distant memory, and even then he couldn't exactly remember the words spoken. It felt as if that night had happened a year ago, fuzzy and hard to picture.

"Nightmare?" Sabo's voice broke him from his thoughts, the blonde yawning as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Huh?" Ace asked dumbly, still not sure what was happening.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Sabo asked, blinking a few times as he spoke.

"No, uh... whats happening?" Ace asked as he looked around the room, remembering it from, what felt like, all that time ago. Sabo was quiet a moment as he watched Ace before recognition flashed in his eyes.

"Right, 14-year-old Ace. I forgot about that." Sabo muttered to himself with a sigh.

"15." Ace corrected absently as he continued inspecting the room, practically waiting for a doctor to come barging in.

"What?" Now it was Sabo's turn to be confused as he turned to look back at Ace, halfway out of the bed.

"I'm 15 now. I was 14 though, right? I remember everything from the next year, but I don't really remember what happened here... yesterday?" Ace said, the last bit coming out as a question, almost as if he didn't know when yesterday was.

"Uh, yeah, yesterday. You were hit with a devil fruit that made you fourteen." Sabo explained briefly. Ace nodded, remembering vaguely that Sabo had told that to him. In between them Luffy shuffled again, eyebrows furrowing and a frown forming on his face, cluing the two in on the nightmare he was probably experiencing. Sabo was quick to turn to Luffy and soothe him, breaking the boy from his dreaming before it got any worse. Ace could only watch as Luffy looked around with wide eyes for a minute before calming, getting out of bed and heading to the desk in their room.

"So what's the last thing you remember then? Now that you're 15 and all." Sabo asked quietly, though both the older brothers were watching Luffy closely as he pulled out a journal and started writing.

Ace swallowed at the mention of the fresh memories, eyes drifting from Luffy to the blankets underneath his hands.

"Luffy died." Ace murmured, just as quiet as Sabo had been, if not quieter. Sabo frowned beside him.

"But they saved him. Damn doctors." Ace cursed, hands forming fists as he clutched the blankets. The two remained silent, the only sound in the room being the sound of Luffy's pen scratching across the paper as he wrote.

"Do you remember anything about yesterday? About being here?" Sabo asked in an attempt to change the subject. He didn't like remembering Luffy's death anymore then Ace did, but his brother remembered it clearer then he did as if it had happened only days ago.

"Mm. I remember talkin' to all the commanders and stuff. I don't remember what their names were, and I can't really remember what we talked about. I just remember that I'm not supposed to be 15 and that we're not in the facility anymore." Ace said with a shrug, looking back at Luffy.

"Right. Well, I need to head to the galley really quick. Luffy, when you're done writing you and Ace can head there too, Thatch is done with breakfast. I'll see you both soon alright?" Sabo said, getting out of the bed and getting ready, heading to the door. Ace gave him a look of confusion, but nodded, Luffy doing the same.

Sabo took that as a sign that he could leave, so he did, sighing heavily as he closed the door behind him. It was a good thing that Ace seemed to be returning to his proper age, but the consequence of it meant his brother had to relive all of those horrible days in the facility all over again. It was one thing to talk about them, to relive them through words, but to experience them all over again was a completely different thing.

Sabo could only hope this was all over soon.

Walking into the galley he saw that most everyone was there. Apparently, the brothers had slept in longer than usual. He headed straight for the commanders' table, many in the room noticing he was alone which earned him a few curious looks that he ignored.

"Sabo, where're Ace and Luffy?" Blamenco asked as the blonde sat at the table, drawing everyone's attention.

"Back in our room. They'll be here shortly, which is why I need to talk to you quickly before they do get here." Sabo said, voice soft but urgent as he folded his hands on the table, frowning.

"Is everything alright, son?" Whitebeard asked in concern, a frown on his face as well as he observed Sabo.

"For the most part, yes. Ace is 15 now, which is great, it means he's returning back to his normal age." Sabo began, everyone nodding along in understanding.

"However, being 15, he remembers everything from the facility too clearly. Yesterday, from what I've gathered, feels as if it happened a year ago. He doesn't remember your names or exactly what we talked about, he just remembers he was here and talked with us." Sabo explained.

"What's the last thing he remembers, yoi?" Marco asked, having a feeling whatever Ace remembered was apart of the issue. Sabo's frown deepened, hands grasping to each other tighter.

"Luffy's death," Sabo said, voice dropping even lower at the mention. Everyone frowned at his words, all of them understanding the reason for this conversation now.

"Seeing as its fresh in his mind, he's probably going to hover around Luffy. He and I both kept Luffy within our sights as much as possible after he died, so it'd be best that no one mentions it. Ace has a hard time handling his own emotions, so if someone brings it up he'll most likely explode in anger which won't do anyone any good." Sabo said with a sigh, knowing his older- younger?- brother had a tendency to get angry rather than deal with his feelings properly.

"And now that he remembers how, he'll probably start tapping to us again. It'd also be best if you don't tell him you understand the tapping." Sabo said, not wanting Ace to feel like he didn't have any privacy anymore.

"We understand. Is that all?" Whitebeard asked.

"I think so. Ace and Luffy are here anyway." Sabo said, not even turning to face the door as it opened, the two brothers walking in hand in hand. It wasn't all that obvious, but after what Sabo had told them, they noticed that Ace was definitely a lot closer to Luffy then he normally would be, eyes scanning the area around them quickly as they walked.

Sabo turned to look at them once he heard they were closer, giving the two a smile as he did.

"Sabo, you didn't eat without us, right?" Luffy asked with a pout as he sat beside the blonde. Sabo huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes.

"Of course not Luffy, right Thatch?" Sabo asked the chef who smiled and shook his head.

"Nope! I refused to serve him until you two were here!" Thatch said as he stood and left the table, heading off to get their food. Satisfied, Luffy smiled and Ace sat on Luffy's other side, eyes still shifting around the room and a frown on his face.

'What're their names?' Ace asked his brothers, unaware that the commanders and Captain could understand the silent language. Haruta opened his mouth, most likely to answer the unspoken question, but Izo stomped on his foot, stopping the Commander who immediately remembered Sabo's words.

'The cool giant is the Captain, he's Mr. Whitebeard, and Marcos his first mate, he's the one who looks bored, and across from him is Izo, he's really pretty and next to him,' Luffy continued naming the Commanders for Ace, Sabo smiling at some of the observations his brother made about the commanders. The Commanders and Captain all tried to pretend they couldn't understand the words, even if Luffy calling Blamenco the funny man with the face pockets was hilarious.

"Bon appetit!" Thatch announced as he came over, platters in hand as he served the three.

"Thank you, Thatch," Sabo said, more for Ace so he could associate the chef with a name.

"No problem Sabo!" Thatch said as he sat in front of them again. Breakfast was fairly normal, save for Ace asking his brothers questions about things that he couldn't remember, like what they normally did on the ship, whether they were apart of the crew or not, and if they were allowed to eat more then just one serving.

Aces reaction to the food was the same as it had been yesterday, the flavors nearly overwhelming him as he ate eagerly. It was as if he hadn't eaten in years, which wasn't far from the truth in the teen's mind.

When they were finished, the three left to go sit in their spot, Ace still sticking to Luffy like glue as they did. The boy didn't seem to mind, practically basking in his brothers' affection.

Most of their day was spent at the railing, Ace sitting beside Luffy while Sabo sat on the ground. Ace asked more questions, like how they even managed to escape the facility, and they answered diligently, always reassuring him that they were safe, that they were out. Lunch came, the brothers ate, and then they were right back at the railing, watching the sky, the clouds, the sea.

At one point, when everything was peaceful, calm, Ace could feel the fuzziness once again, the warning sign of an attack.

'Sleep attack.' Ace signed quickly, already feeling his body shut down on him. Luffy, who had felt the incoming signs as well, pushed Ace back and off the railing, Sabo catching their brother to save him from landing harshly on the deck.

It beat falling into the ocean.

"He alright?" Namur, the commander closest to them, asked, obviously concerned.

"Yeah, just another attack," Sabo said with a sigh as he positioned his brother as comfortably as possible against the railing.

"They really did happen a lot, huh?" He asked as he looked at Ace. He could only imagine how annoying it must be to suddenly lose the ability to stay awake, to just suddenly pass out without any say in the matter.

"Too often. It didn't make much of a difference when all we had to do was sit in a cell, but it was still annoying. More so for Ace, obviously." Sabo said with a sigh as he also watched his sleeping brother.

"Teach is coming." Luffy murmured softly from where he sat, still facing the ocean. Sabo frowned, ears pricking as he zeroed in on where Teach was just walking out onto the deck, the man's eyes turning their way immediately as he did.

"I think it'd be best that we go to our room for now," Sabo suggested, Luffy nodding in agreement as he stood up off the railing. Sabo moved to lift Ace, but Namur stopped him, picking their sleeping brother up effortlessly.

"I can get him for you, just lead the way," Namur said with a smile. The two brothers thanked him before heading off towards their room. Once they reached the room they thanked Namur once more before waiting for Ace to wake up. They explained what he'd missed, explained to him that Teach was bad, explained to him that they were watching him.

And then they stayed in their room until dinner, and then even after dinner.

The next day, Ace was 16, remembering everything up to when Luffy went through the pure souls tests. With the way things were going, Ace would be back to 17 by the next day. Whether he remembered everything by tomorrow or not though, was unknown to them.

After, once again, explaining everything about the previous two days, which felt like a year ago to Ace, the three-headed off to the galley for breakfast.

Another round of explanations later, and everyone was caught up on Ace's current age and memories. Afterward, the three spent their day the same way they did the previous two days, showing Ace all the freedom they had rather than letting him sit and remember all the freedom they didn't have back at the facility. They tried showing him how there were no doctors here, no tests. There was food, baths, clothes, beds. It was a better place, whether it was a pirate ship or not.

Sure, Teach was the one thorn in their side that consistently reminded them that, while most here were good people, he was not. He was someone that was as bad as Haru, someone who threw them all back into their memories about that place. They avoided him at all costs, but the damage was done already.

That didn't mean they couldn't try again the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> A few things mentioned in this chapter will shape the future of this story, such as Luffy mentioning he will be leaving at 17. This was a big chapter both in word count and in information and foreshadowing. This mini arc, while small, played a big part in furthering this story and wrapping up a lot of little things I needed to have done. Now that I've finished it, we're moving full-speed ahead towards a lot of chaos. I hope you're all ready for whats to come!


	83. The Offer

Finally, Ace was 17 again. He had his memories, he had his body back, and he didn't need to ask what was going on for another day in a row. Everything still felt fuzzy, and the facility was still fresh in his mind, but he remembered being with the Whitebeards, he remembered taking the attack, and he remembered- even if they were distant memories- how he had slowly, or rather, quickly, been growing all over again.

Sabo and Luffy were happy he was 17 again, almost more then he was. It was getting a bit repetitive for Sabo, the one who had to continue explaining to Ace everything he didn't remember, and while Ace was still Ace, he hadn't been _their_ Ace.

It was weird, but it was true.

Now, though, everything was back in working order. Their brother was back, memories, body, and all, and they could move on from the attack.

At breakfast, the commanders and Captain were happy to see Ace back to normal, and Kyle, the one Ace had taken the devil fruit attack for, had even come over and thanked Ace for saving him.

All in all, the day was starting off great for the three.

After breakfast, the brothers had another session with Whiskey which they went to without hesitation. With every session they did, it got easier and easier to go and speak with the nurse. The session went as well as expected, Whiskey helping Ace especially with his suddenly very fresh memories of the facility, and once it was over, they were back sitting at the railing. The three had spent the past few days here with Ace as he slowly aged back to his 17-year-old self, so it was almost habitual to return to the spot even after everything was back to normal.

The spot at the railing was almost like a safe haven for the three. It was safe, familiar, peaceful, something they could always rely on. The railing would always be there, and when they sat there they would always have a good view of the ocean, the sun, the sky, the freedom. It was something in their lives that would never change.

The brothers remained there for the rest of the morning, occasionally talking with a passing crewmember or commander as they did. They made no move to leave the railing, not until the lunch bell was ringing, and even then they stayed as long as they could, all three of them gazing out into the seemingly endless ocean before forcing themselves to leave and get food.

Lunch was as normal as breakfast was, nothing out of the ordinary happening, no surprise attacks, and no fights breaking out. It was almost unsettling for the brothers to have such a normal, anticlimactic day after the weird few days they'd just had.

When they left the galley, that normal, unordinary day changed. No one was out yet, only Curiel and Kingdew who were near Whitebeards chair, but other than that the deck was void of anyone else. As they left the galley, Sabo could hear the booming footsteps of Whitebeard as the Captain walked out behind them, confusing him. Normally the Captain was one of the last to leave the galley, not the first. As he appeared behind them, the brothers turned to greet him, all wondering what he was doing.

"Ace, would you mind if we talk for a minute?" Whitebeard asked, his usual warm, comforting smile on his face. Ace looked to the Captain in confusion for a moment before turning to glance at his brothers. They both shrugged, not knowing anymore then he did as to what the Captain wanted to talk about.

"Uh, sure." Ace agreed, seeing no reason as to why he shouldn't accept. Whitebeard had yet to show them that he was a bad person, and frankly, they didn't expect him to. There was nothing that they'd seen or heard from the man that would cause them to believe the giant could ever turn on them like they had once used to think.

"I'll meet you in my room then." The captain said before walking off, most likely to the aforementioned room. Ace raised an eyebrow, both he and his brothers watching the Captain for a minute before turning their attention to each other.

"You want me to listen in?" Sabo asked, wondering if Ace wanted his privacy or not. On one hand, they didn't think that Whitebeard would ever turn on them, but Sabo wasn't sure if Ace wanted to give up the safety net of having Sabo listen to make sure everything was alright.

"Nah, it's fine. If anything goes wrong I'll just say Kangaroo." Ace said with a nonchalant shrug as he mentioned their safe word. Luffy could feel the nervousness in his brother contradicting his attempt at looking calm but didn't call him out on it.

"Alright. Luffy and I will wait at the railing." Sabo said, patting Ace reassuringly on the back before heading off towards said section of the deck. Luffy gave Ace a hug before following the blonde, leaving Ace alone to walk to the Captain's quarters.

He remembered from when they first got here, were first out of the infirmary, when Marco gave them a brief tour of the Moby, showing them the most important places that they would need to know. One of those places had been the Captain's room, and he remembered it being at the end of the hall where he and his brothers' room was, so he headed straight there.

As he walked he contemplated what Whitebeard could want to talk to him alone about. There was a possibility that it had to do with the attack he had only just recovered from, but even then, Ace was at a loss as to why they would need to have a private conversation about it. He tried ignoring the churning in his gut telling him that this was going to have something to do with his father or the facility. Even though Whitebeard had all but shrugged away the news that Roger was his father, Ace wasn't so sure that it would be left at that. No one had ever taken the idea of Roger having a child as well as Whitebeard had, so maybe this was the time he was going to bring it up, tell Ace how much of a monster he was, tell him he wasn't worthy enough to live.

Deep breaths.

Ace forced himself to stop thinking about those things, forced himself out of those thinking traps Whiskey had been telling him about. She told him that the mind had a tendency to overreact, and in Aces case, catastrophize things out of proportion. Once Ace's mind got a small, non-threatening thought into its head, he had a tendency to blow it out of proportion and overthink it to the point that he worried himself more than necessary.

Realizing he was outside of the Captain's room now, he hesitated. He knew he should just go in and get this over with, knew that this wasn't going to end nearly as bad as he imagined it would, but there was still that hesitance, that inkling in the back of his mind, telling him he needed to run, get away, never look back.

"Are you going to come in, son?" Whitebeards booming voice asked from behind the door. Ace flushed, realizing he'd been standing there for a few minutes now and remembered Whitebeard had haki. He cleared his throat awkwardly before opening the door and peeking in.

He'd never been in the Captain's room before, and now that he was, he took everything in as quickly and discreetly as possible. His eyes floated from object to object, from the chair, the nightstand and bed, to the shelves, the medical supplies, and the drawing of a dog on the wall.

Ace felt himself questioning the picture. It looked almost like a child had drawn it, not to mention the fact that the dog had a mustache.

"Gurarara, that's Stefan." Whitebeard laughed, noticing how Ace looked at the drawing with curiosity.

"Stefan? Was he your dog or something?" Ace asked, slowly walking over to the chair and sitting down. He could still feel a tension in himself, but he tried to look and act as calm as usual.

"No, Ruta drew him for me a long time ago. He wanted me to have a companion here in my room in case I was ever lonely." Whitebeard said with a fond smile. Ace felt himself smile a bit as well, some of that previous tension slowly ebbing away.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk about?" Ace asked as he shifted. Whitebeard turned to look at Ace, his smile never leaving his face.

"I was wondering if you would like to become the Second Division Commander," Whitebeard said, getting straight to the point. The bluntness of the statement, as well as the unexpectedness of it, threw Ace through a loop. He sat, gaping at the Captain, his eyes wide.

"W-wha-? S-second Division Commander?" Ace questioned, unclear on whether he'd heard the man correctly. Whitebeard laughed before responding, nodding his head.

"That's correct." He replied, smile never faltering. Ace waited a moment, waited for the Captain to tell him he was joking and that there was a different reason completely for calling him here, but as the seconds stretched on, he realized the Captain was either entirely too committed to this joke, or he was serious.

"B-But... what? Why me?" Ace asked. It was a valid question. He had only been with the crew for a few months, and he'd only been apart of the crew for a little under a month. Surely there were a ton of others who were much better qualified for the position than him.

"Why not?" Whitebeard asked with a shrug, leaning back against the headboard of his bed.

"Well... because... I haven't even been here that long, and there are plenty of others who are better fit for the job." Ace said face scrunched, perplexed.

"As true as that may or may not be I've decided to choose you instead," Whitebeard said, voice still calm, never wavering in its conviction.

"Why though?" Ace asked again, still not understanding Whitebeards reasoning behind his choice.

"I'm not exactly the most... stable person, and I've barely gotten to know anyone yet, and there's all the marines after me and my brothers, and my fathers Roger which is just another shitty thing to add to the list, and-" Whitebeard listened patiently as Ace rambled on and on about his inadequacies and, much like how Luffy gets when he starts rambling, wouldn't stop until someone else stops them.

"-and I eat a lot, and I get angry really fast, and I can't really handle the nurses that well, and I don't think I would be all that great a commander." Ace said, his rambling eventually ending once he lost his breath. Whitebeard continued to remain silent as he let Ace catch his breath. Once the teen seemed to have calmed down the giant leaned towards him, grabbing the boy's attention.

"As true as any of that may be, I chose you for the good qualities you possess. Sure, you may eat a lot, but so do I, and that's alright. Your father may be an infamous criminal, but we're all children of the sea when it truly comes down to it. If you don't know the rest of your brothers as well as others, that's something that can be fixed." Whitebeard began, Ace listening silently.

"I didn't choose you because of any of that, I chose you because I've liked what I see in you. How loyal you are, how brave you can be, and how you persevere. You saved Kyle from that devil fruit attack without any hesitation, and you stick by your brothers no matter the trouble you three are in. Not to mention, everything that's happened with the facility. It may have been difficult and life-changing, but you and your brothers are working hard to turn your lives around. You're working hard to work through the trauma and live lives that you want to have. I think you would be a good commander not because your the strongest, or even the smartest, I chose you because, despite the difficulties you face in life, you still push through. You would make a good commander, son." Whitebeard finished, flooring Ace with his speech.

He'd always had a hard time accepting compliments and praise, and to hear such high praise come from someone like Whitebeard left Ace feeling both flustered and confused. He didn't exactly do anything to deserve the praise, and he wasn't good at properly expressing his emotions, so he could only sit in stunned silence after Whitebeard had finished speaking.

"Becoming a commander would mean taking on more responsibility, but I think you would be able to handle it. Whiskeys told me without going into detail that you've been progressing wonderfully through your sessions, and she thinks that becoming commander could help you as well." Whitebeard added after the silence continued to reign.

"So, uh, if I do become the second commander, what would I have to do?" Ace asked, trying to fight the shock off.

Whitebeard smiled, leaning back again.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Well, what did he want?" Sabo asked eagerly once his brother returned. He and Luffy had been waiting patiently on the railing, occasionally talking to some of the passing crewmembers to pass time. Ace and Whitebeard had talked for a while, almost a whole hour before they returned to the deck. Sabo and Luffy could both see the shock on their brothers face despite his best efforts to hide it, and that only made them that much more curious as to what they had talked about.

'Room.' Ace simply tapped out, obviously not wanting to speak about it here. The two nodded and hopped off the railing, following Ace back towards the commander's hall where their room was. They walked silently, but Luffy couldn't help but glance towards Whitebeard, taking in the happy feelings, the pride, the joy, the warmth, the love. He couldn't find anything bad coming from the Captain, nothing out of the ordinary, and that only made him more confused.

His brother, on the other hand, was a mixture of emotions that were hard to define and separate from one another. There was the shock that overtook most of the emotions, but beneath that, there was a feeling of disbelief, a feeling of unworthiness, and the familiar anger his brother felt whenever he didn't know how to deal with his feelings. Hidden beneath all of that, though, there was a warmth, different from Ace's normal warmth. It was stronger, brighter, warmer.

Luffy pulled himself from his brother's feelings, more confused now then he had been before. He couldn't make sense of the different emotions, couldn't figure out what the Captain had said to Ace to make him feel this way.

They reached their room finally, Sabo practically rushing into the room, ready to hear whatever Ace had to say about his talk.

"So? What happened?" He asked impatiently as Luffy entered, and then Ace, the eldest closing the door before he turned to face the blonde with a sigh. Luffy went and sat on the bed, crisscrossing his legs and watching his brothers as they spoke, standing in the middle of their room.

"Well, uh, he asked me if I wanted to be the second division commander." Ace said, not beating around the bush. Sabo took a step back in surprise, eyes widening, while Luffy tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding.

"H-he wanted you to be a commander?" Sabo asked in as much shock as Ace had. The oldest nodded, running his fingers through his hair as he went and sat in their desk chair.

"Yeah, and he kept sayin' I would be good at it and stuff, and that it didn't matter to him that we'd only been here a few months, or that I've got all my... you know, issues." Ace continued. Sabo sat on the bed beside Luffy, eyebrows furrowed in thought. The room went quiet, no one speaking, as they all mulled over Ace's words.

"Did you say yes?" Luffy asked curiously. Sabo looked over to Ace, eager to hear his brother's answer.

"I uh, told him I'd think about it. He said being a commander meant more responsibility and stuff, but he also said Teach was in the second division too. It'd mean I was his supervisor or whatever, but basically he, and everyone else in the second division would answer to me." Ace explained. Even though the brothers had been there for a few months, they didn't quite have a good grasp on how the whole divisions and commanders worked yet. All they knew was that there were separate divisions, and their commanders oversaw their own groups, but they didn't know who was in what division or how those divisions were run.

"That would mean we could keep better tabs on him, but that'd also mean you might have to actually interact with him," Sabo muttered, referring to Teach. Ace nodded, sighing heavily.

"That's why Whitebeard mentioned it. He wanted me to know that if I agreed, Teach was going to become someone I'd be running into more and more." Ace said darkly. He appreciated that the Captain had taken these things into account though, had taken the time to explain them all to Ace.

"Was there anything else he said?" Sabo asked.

"Not really, he just explained all the stuff I'd have to do if I said yes. Whiskey apparently told him that she thinks it'd be good for me to have the extra responsibility too." Ace added.

"Do you wanna say yes?" Luffy asked. He hadn't seemed as shocked as Sabo or Ace had been by the idea of Ace becoming Commander, but there was also the possibility he just didn't understand the significance behind it. Sabo looked from Luffy to Ace, finding that his brother was bringing up some very good questions that he hadn't thought of, still too shocked to think properly.

"I-... I don't know."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

It was a five days later that Ace finally figured out the answer to his question. Five days of talking with his brothers, watching Teach, talking to Whiskey, Marco, Thatch, Izo, and even Jiru at one time. He forced himself to interact more with the crew, tried to at least glance Teachs way from time to time without glaring at the bastard.

All the meanwhile, he debated whether he should agree to become the Commander of the Whitebeards Second Division.

He knew, or at least, he felt, that this was a big deal. There would be an added responsibility if he said yes. He'd have to push himself to at least get to know his division, and one of those people would be Teach. He couldn't avoid the man forever if he was in his division, under his watch, so he'd have to at least be able to tolerate being in the man's presence, but that was one of those easier said then done situations.

He, Sabo and Luffy spent many hours, all times of the day, talking over the decision. Even though the two wouldn't be affected whether Ace said yes or not, it was still a big decision for their brother, and Ace valued their opinion on the subject almost more than his own. If they said not to, he wouldn't hesitate to deny the position, no matter the benefits of it.

So when the three finally seemed to come to a decision by the end of the fifth day, Ace marched his way to Whitebeards room once again, ready to tell the Captain his verdict.

Like the last time though, his determination wavered the second he was outside the man's door. He took a deep breath, raised his hand to knock, lowered it, raised it again, lowered, rais-

"I don't bite you know." Whitebeard's voice said from inside, startling Ace. He flushed, feeling a sense of deja vu before he opened the door, poking his head inside in a similar way as he had the first time he'd been there.

"Hello son, did you want to speak with me?" Whitebeard asked his smile still as gentle and calming as ever. Ace swallowed but nodded as he fully entered the room, shuffling meekly over to the chair he'd sat in last time.

"Yeah, uh, I wanted to talk about the, uh, position you offered." Ace managed to stumble out, his anger flaring within him at his inability to speak properly.

"Did you make a decision?" The Captain asked, expression never shifting, never changing.

"I think so. If you don't mind... I think I will take the position of Second Commander." Ace said, looking up at Whitebeard as he spoke. Whitebeards smile widened, a warmth radiating off him that Ace basked in.

"Gurarara, of course, son." Whitebeard laughed cheerily. Ace smiled, straightening in his seat as he felt the anxiety wash off of him.

"Thanks... Oyaji."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Big things are happening! Ace is the Second Division Commander now, which means he will now be working directly with Teach despite his previous attempts to avoid him at all costs. Not only that, but he also called Whitebeard Oyaji for the first time as well. This chapter was a transitioning into the bigger arc that will be taking place, and I think the next chapter will be as well. However, next chapter will let you all know exactly what the next arc is going to be about so get excited for that!
> 
> The brothers have grown so much since I started this story and even though there's still more to come, I'm incredibly proud of their growth. Even if they are fictional characters.


	84. The Calm Before the Storm

"Come on Ace, lets gooo~!" Luffy whined, tugging at Aces hand intently, smile stretched across his face as he did.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down would'ya Lu?" Ace muttered, rolling his eyes in an attempt to look unamused, though the smile on his face ruined it.

"As if that's possible." Sabo said from Luffys other side, a smirk on his own face as he followed the hyper active young boy.

"I just got back though, so that should count for something." Ace said, trying to put on his best, 'I'm tired' face.

"But Ace, you promised!" Luffy whined, tugging on his brothers hand.

"Yeah Ace, _you promised._ " Sabo said, repeating Luffy's words in a teasing tone to the eldest who glared at him.

"What exactly did Ace promise this time?" Izo asked with a smile as he walked over to the three brothers, hands hidden in his sleeves.

"Ace said he would tell us all about his mission and then he'd spar with me!" Luffy said, turning his attention to Izo, talking to the commander as if he was their parent and he was tattling on Ace.

"I see. Well Ace, seems you better make good on that promise of yours. After all, you know best that Luffy holds promises in high regards." Izo said with a hint of laughter.

"Fine, come on then." Ace said with a sigh of defeat, slinking off towards an empty section of the deck, Luffy cheering at his side as he bounced beside his brother. Sabo laughed, but didn't follow the two, instead staying with Izo.

It had been a year since Ace had accepted the title of Second Division Commander, a year since the brothers had escaped the facility, and a year since they'd joined the Whitebeards.

Ace and Sabo were now 18 years old and Luffy was 15. Over the course of the year, the three continued to open up to the crew, making more and more friends amongst the crew. They continued to keep a close eye on Teach, and with Ace being in charge of the second division, that became much easier to do.

Sabo and Luffy had been placed amongst the second division as well, much to Aces never ending delight whenever he got to use the, 'I'm your superior _and_ your older brother' card. The three continued to share a room, continued to go to their sessions with Whiskey, and continued to get passed the trauma that was the facility. Of course, there were set backs every now and then, because that's just how life goes. Occasionally the three would see or hear a trigger, or just have too many nightmares, and they would take the day off, deeming it a 'Bad Day'. Everyone on the crew understood and no one ever pressured them to talk about those bad days, it was just understood that they weren't to be spoken about unless the brothers mentioned them.

Ace had also gotten the hang of being a division commander pretty quickly. If he ever had questions, he went to Marco or Whitebeard, but other then that, he seemed to have everything under control.

"Did you have a cool fight? With lots of bad guys and stuff? And explosions too!" Luffy asked his brother as they both got into fighting stances.

"Well duh, I did go to protect one of Pops' islands." Ace said with another eye roll, as if it was obvious. Luffy grinned, laughing.

"Shishishi! Oh, did you try that firefly thing again?!" Luffy asked as he launched himself towards Ace, fist flinging backwards in preparation for an attack.

"Yeah, it worked better this time too. Got most of the pirates with 'em." Ace answered as he blocked Luffys punch, coating his arms in haki. Sabo watched off to the side with Izo, the two talking quietly amongst themselves as Ace and Luffy sparred. It was a usual occurrence for Luffy to want to spar with his brother after a mission, as long as Ace was alright to spar.

Whenever Ace left Luffy had a habit of sitting on the railing and watching their eldest brothers wave like a hawk. Most times it was alright, the wave never faltering or getting weak, but occasionally Aces wave would start losing opacity, and whenever that happened, it was difficult for Luffy to do anything other then sit there and stare at the wave, practically willing it to get better. The only thing that could get the youngest brother to leave the railing would be food, the bathroom, or sleep, and even then it was a challenge.

Speaking of.

"Alright you two, lunch is ready!" Sabo shouted to his brothers, ending their spar preemptively.

"Food!" Luffy cheered, running off without hesitation to the galley. Sabo and Ace both shook their heads at Luffys antics, but followed after him regardless.

As time passed, Luffy had slowly returned to the bubbly, happy person he'd been before the facility. There were times that he reverted back to his old self, mostly when they were in crowds of strangers, but for the most part, Luffy was back to how he used to be, gluttony and all.

The same could be said for Ace and Sabo as well. The two of them were no longer as timid or cautious as they used to be so long as they were around the Whitebeards. Whenever they landed on new islands not under Whitebeards protection, it was a different story, but other than that they were great.

The marines were still out to get them, of course, and they'd even raised their bounties multiple times over the year. Once word of Aces promotion got out to the world his bounty had a major increase, and ever since its been steadily rising, now resting at a good 450,000,000 berri. Sabo wasn't far behind with a 400,000,000 berri bounty, and Luffy was at 300,000,000 berri. They were still to be taken Alive Only and their pictures had yet to be updated since the first picture they had.

"You nearly gave Luffy a heart attack during your last mission." Sabo said as he and Ace matched each others pace.

"Really? I wasn't even injured that bad." Ace said with a frown, watching his little brothers back as it dissapeared into the galley.

"You know how he gets whenever you get an injury and we're not around. Thatch wasn't here either to keep him calm with food." Sabo said with a sigh. He remembered only a few days ago when Luffy had refused to leave the railing for meals, stating Aces wave was lighter then it should be. Sabo had to spend nearly the whole meal trying to coax his brother to eat at least half a plate of food.

Whenever Luffy was on Ace watch Thatch would bring him snacks periodically and talk with him to make sure he ate healthy, but the Commander had been sent on a mission of his own a few days after Ace had. Sabo had been left to try and keep Luffy alive by himself, though that wasn't necessarily all true with the hundreds of crewmates they had that all tried their hardest to make Luffy feel better too. Marco was another one of the few to constantly check-up on Luffy during those times, talking to the boy and making sure he took care of himself.

"When's he get back anyway?" Ace asked, having noticed Thatch wasn't around when he got back.

"I think Pops and Marco said he should be back by tomorrow." Sabo said, he and Ace both reaching the line to get food now. Luffy was already at the commanders table, a large plate of food in front of him as he ate eagerly.

"That's good. Hows everything been since I've been gone? You know, besides Luffy worrying too much?" Ace asked as they started piling food onto their plates.

"Eh, you know how it is. A few marines thought they could take us again, Teach got back from that mission of his yesterday, and Tyler finally figured out that Ruta was the one to hide his lucky sock. All in all, its been pretty normal." Sabo answered.

"Ah, damnit, I thought for sure Tyler would be in the dark for another week!" Ace exclaimed, having been one of the many to place a bet on when the man would find out. Sabo laughed loudly at his side.

"I told you you should have listened to me! He's smarter then you give him credit for." Sabo said, the two finishing piling food onto their plates and heading to the table where Luffy was already finishing his first serving.

"Did'ya hear Ace? You lost the bet!" Haruta announced with a gleeful smile as the two brothers sat down. Ace pouted, already digging in.

"Yeah, Sabo told me. Who won anyways?" The raven asked, noting absent mindedly that Sabo was scolding Luffy again for eating too fast.

"Vista, Kingdew, Blamenco, and quite a few from the fifteenth division. Apparently they were one of the only ones to listen when Sabo was telling you about when Tyler would notice." Haruta said with a teasing tone, earning a glare from Ace and another laugh from Sabo.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I get it, Sabo's smart. Nerd." Ace said, muttering the last word quieter, yet loud enough for everyone to hear. A round of laughter was heard from everyone listening in on the conversation while Luffy smiled, basking in the happy emotions.

"Seriously though, you should get in on the bets too Sabo, you almost always win them even though you don't participate!" Jozu said. Sabo shrugged, taking another bite of food.

"I'd rather watch Ace lose all his allowance instead. Besides, I don't need anymore money then I've already got." The blonde replied.

"Yeah right, that's not what you said when we had to get you new clothes!" Ace demanded, pointing a finger at Sabo accusingly. He regretted it almost immediately though when his brother turned to give him a glare.

"That's only because you burned all of mine with that rampage of yours! I needed a whole new wardrobe!" Sabo nearly shouted. Inbetween the two, Luffy laughed loudly, thinking back to a few months ago. Ace had woken up from a nightmare and hadn't been in his right mind, immediately swinging fiery fists this way and that, lighting up their closet almost instantly. Sabo and Luffy had calmed him down quickly enough, but the damage had been done.

Luffys clothes had all been out drying after a mishap in the mud, and Ace hadn't worn a shirt since he'd gotten his tattoos, so the only one to really suffer had been Sabo whose entire wardrobe had been lost.

"It wasn't really my fault though! Besides, if you didn't wear... all of that then it wouldn't have been so expensive." Ace said in an attempt to defend himself, gesturing to Sabo's outfit. Sabo had returned to wearing clothes resembling those of nobility, complete with the frilly cravat, white undershirt, and blue vest with a belt. He also wore a pair of brown gloves and black boots.

"Sorry that I actually like wearing clothes Ace." Sabo said sarcastically, complete with an eye roll, referring to his brothers lack of shirt. Ace wore a simple pair of black shorts with an orange belt, the buckle a shiny silver with a red A on it, and a pair of black boots.

"Clothes are overrated." Ace said, his tone still slightly defensive.

"If you two are done with your bickering, Luffy seems to have left, yoi." Marco said in his usual lazy tone, pointing his fork to the galley doors which were swinging closed. Ace and Sabo blinked, both realizing something at the same time as their eyes widened.

"Shit!" They both exclaimed simultaneously, shoveling the last of their food in their mouths before rushing out after the youngest. The commanders all laughed while Whitebeard smiled, taking a sip of his drink, alcoholic of course.

Meanwhile, Luffy was busy laughing quietly to himself as he shimmied himself into a group of barrels, his rubber body allowing him to feel no discomfort at the tight space which would be impossible for a normal person to fit into. He held a water balloon in each hand, one red and one yellow, and forced himself to stop laughing once he heard his brothers run out onto the deck, knowing Sabo would hear him if he did.

"Come on Luffy, I thought we weren't gonna do this anymore!" Ace all but whined as he scanned the deck for the youngest. The second the two older brothers had reached the deck, Luffy had suppressed his aura, something he had figured out how to do over the course of the year with the pirates, making it nearly impossible for the two older brothers to find him.

"Can you hear him?" Ace asked, beginning to walk around the deck in an attempt to find Luffy, though being careful not to stick his head close enough to a hiding place, lest his brother be hiding there. He'd like to avoid a face full of water if possible.

"No, he's gotten too good at being quiet when he wants to be." Sabo said with a sigh as he began searching alongside Ace.

After one of Aces first few missions, in an attempt to lighten Luffys mood, Haruta had suggested playing a prank on Ace and Sabo. The boy had been interested in the idea, and ever since then, whenever Ace got back from a mission, he would run off and hide somewhere, ready to pelt the two with his water balloons that Haruta continued to supply him with. The two had tried time and again to stop Luffy from doing this, but the one time they did manage to stop him, he'd pouted for almost a full two days before they relented and agreed he could continue doing it.

Of course, every time this happened, they regretted not holding out longer.

As time passed, Ace and Sabo tried searching every known hiding place they could think of with no luck. Eventually, the rest of the crew was watching them in amusement, some having accidentally stumbled upon Luffy but not giving away his hiding spot. Haruta watched proudly, having also found Luffy already.

"Ah, how they grow up!" Haruta said wistfully, Fossa rolling his eyes beside him.

"At least hes actually hiding this time. Last time he just sat on the beams and dropped the water balloons on them when they walked outside." Fossa said, gesturing to the wooden beams high in the sky. Haruta laughed, not having been there the last time Ace returned from a mission.

"Better then the first time we did this and he laughed the whole time. Sabo found us right away!" Haruta said, eyes drifting over to wear Luffy sat, water balloons at the ready as his eyes followed his brothers intently.

"I think you two forget the time he tried to sneak attack them and ended up falling into the ocean, yoi." Marco said in amusement, arms crossed as he watched the two brothers grow more frantic in their search. Fossa and Haruta both winced.

"Yeah, that definitely wasn't one of his best attacks." Haruta agreed.

"Gotcha!" Luffys shout drew the Commanders from their conversation, turning just in time to watch Luffy pop out of his hiding spot and hit Ace and Sabo squarely in the face, the water balloons exploding at the contact.

Laughter erupted from everyone present besides Ace and Sabo, the two pouting as they wiped their faces.

"Damnit Lu, when did you start getting good at this?" Ace asked, shaking his head like a dog, water flinging this way and that, a few close by complaining as they got wet.

"Shishishi, Oyaji gave me some ideas!" Luffy exclaimed loudly. Everyone turned to the Captain who looked away, whistling.

"Oyaji!" Ace and Sabo whined in unison, only getting a laugh from the Captain in response.

"Great. I'm gonna go change." Sabo said with a sigh of defeat, stalking off to their bedroom.

"You do that, I'm gonna teach Luffy why its a bad idea to throw water balloons at me every time I get back." Ace said, fist forming and turning black at the haki he was exuding. Luffy yelped, jumping onto one of the barrels and extending his arms upwards towards the rigging before Ace could grab him.

"Get back here you damn Monkey!"

"Shishishi, no way! Agh, hey, no fair, you cant throw fire at me!"

"Don't burn down the ship Ace, yoi!"

"Oi, Luffy, run that way, not towards me!"

"Gah! Run away, they're heading this way!"

"Gurarara~!"

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the New World, Thatch and his division slowly made their way back home to the Moby. They still had another day of travel, but everything, for the most part, was peaceful. The small group that Thatch had taken with him on his mission were all milling around the deck, some checking to make sure they were still on course, some moving loot they had gotten into the ship, and others tending to the wounds they received during their fight.

Thatch himself was alone in his room, laying on the bed as he tossed a circular object back and forth from hand to hand. He observed it carefully, mind racing as he thought of all the different options.

The object, of course, was a devil fruit. The Yami Yami no mi.

When Thatch and his division had finished up their fight and had been looting the pirates that thought they could take one of their many protected islands, Thatch had found the fruit inside a treasure chest onboard the enemy ship. Of course, since he was the one to find it, he was the one who got to decide what he wanted to do with it.

This meant, however, that Thatch had a serious choice on his hands. On one hand, he could eat the fruit, gain new powers that could possibly help or hurt him, and lose the ability to swim. On the other, he could not eat it, maybe give it to someone else on the crew who wanted it, maybe sell it, while keeping his ability to swim in the end.

Both choices had their pros, but they both had their cons as well. For one, there was the obvious loss of being able to swim if he ate the fruit, but there was also the possibility that whatever power he gained would be useless. Sure there was the saying that no devil fruit power was truly useless, you just had to know how to use it, but that meant Thatch would have to train himself all over again, get himself completely accustomed to a new power he'd never believed he would have.

However, if he decided against eating the fruit and instead sold it, that meant that whatever power he held in his hands right now went to someone else in the world, whether that be the greedy pirates of the world, the corrupt marines, or just an innocent civilian. The chances that the person who ate this fruit was their enemy though, was too great.

And then there was the option of giving the fruit to someone on the crew who wanted it. It was possibly the option with the least amount of cons, but Thatch didn't know how he felt about the one con he could think of. If he gave this fruit to someone else and they regretted eating it, or got hurt because of it, it would inadvertently be his fault. He would be the one to give someone else this fruit, he would be the one handing the weight of its power onto someone else.

Thatch sighed heavily as he turned onto his side, placing the fruit on his nightstand as he did.

He'd just have to wait until he got back to the Moby and was able to do some more research on this mystery fruit.


	85. The Betrayal

Although the previous day had been easy-going and light-hearted, that night was anything but. Luffy was plagued with nightmares the entire night, which in turn woke Ace and Sabo every time as they attempted to snap Luffy out of them.

Over the year, their nightmares had lessened more and more until they were only worried about having them once every few weeks rather than every day like they used to. It had also been a while since they'd had to worry about having more than one nightmare in a night, so when Luffy suddenly had so many nightmares that night, it confused both Ace and Sabo.

"Its alright Lu, we're still on the Moby, Ace is back too, and no one's gonna hurt us here. Oyaji wouldn't let that happen." Sabo soothed quietly, smoothing back Luffy's hair off of his sweaty forehead. The words broke Luffy from his latest nightmare, eyes wet with unshed tears and breathing heavy and quick.

"You're safe Luffy." Ace murmured, he and Sabo sitting up in their shared beds as they calmed Luffy down. The room went quiet, only Luffy's heavy breathing being heard as the youngest calmed down.

"You're having a lot of nightmares tonight Lu," Sabo said with a tone of concern. He didn't know what was causing the nightmares, whether Luffy had seen a trigger the day before, or whether this was just a set back to their healing.

"I feel something bad. I don't like it." Luffy mumbled quietly, hands gripping tightly onto their blanket.

"Bad? Like darkness?" Ace asked, mind immediately going to Teach. Luffy tilted his head to either side before nodding.

"Kinda. Feels like darkness, lots of it, but far away. It's heavy. I don't like it." Luffy said, repeating the last sentence again as he shivered. As he had described to his brothers, his chest felt heavy with the pressure of whatever was coming, and there was a pit in his stomach that he didn't like.

"A person?" Sabo questioned, more to himself. They'd met a few people with grey auras, and even rarer those with black auras, but no one as bad as Teach or Haru. If there was a person getting closer with a darkness so bad that it caused Luffy this much distress already, the person would have to have a darker aura then both Teach and Haru combined.

"No, not a person. Feels like darkness, but it doesn't feel like a person" Luffy said, trying to explain it the best he could. Ace and Sabo frowned, not knowing whether that was a good thing or not.

"Is it getting closer?" Ace asked.

"Mm." Luffy hummed, grip on the blankets tightening.

"When do you think it'll get here? Should we go tell Oyaji?" Ace questioned more, needing more information on whatever was coming.

"It's still far away. Shouldn't get here 'til morning. After breakfast maybe." Luffy said, trying to judge just how far away the feeling was.

"Alright, we'll tell him first thing then. Do you wanna go back to sleep Luffy?" Ace asked, tone becoming gentler as he spoke to his brother. It was obvious Luffy was distressed, and with good reason too.

"'M tired," Luffy said with a nod, though he looked a bit apprehensive about it, which was understandable seeing as he hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep without being woken up by another nightmare.

"Ace and I will be right here the whole time Lu. We'll tell Oyaji about the feeling in the morning and everything will be alright." Sabo reassured as he lay back down with Luffy, Ace doing the same as well as they all got ready to go back to sleep.

"Mm. Night Ace, night Sabo." Luffy mumbled, his brothers responding in kind before they all drifted off again.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

When Ace and Sabo woke up in the morning they felt exhausted. The fact that Luffy had continued to have nightmares throughout the night meant that they were waking up constantly as well to calm him down. Because of this, none of them had gotten a good rest, but the sun was starting to shine through their tiny window, and there was a possibly really bad unknown... _thing_ heading their way that they had to tell Whitebeard about, so they forced themselves to wake up.

Of course, this is when they noticed that Luffy seemed to be once again having a nightmare from where he lay sleeping in between them. With a sigh, the two got to work on attempting to wake him up.

This was easier said than done though as they quickly realized Luffy was stuck in his nightmare, something that hasn't happened in a couple of months for any of them. Sabo was quick to turn to their nightstand, pulling open the top drawer and taking out a familiar vial with a cork on the top.

Uncorking it, Sabo held the vial under Luffys nose, and within a few minutes, Luffy was waking up again. Sabo was quick to pull the vial away from Luffy before the smell could hurt his brother's nose, corking it and putting it back in its drawer.

Usually, the three didn't resort to using the special smelling salt Whiskey had made them, but with this unusual darkness heading their way they had no time to lose.

"Everything's good Luffy, we're still safe." Ace said for Sabo, the blonde still busy with putting the vial away. As he turned to face Luffy again he could see the shivers racking the boy's body, only further worrying him and Ace.

"Ace, why don't you go tell Oyaji while we go tell Marco," Sabo said with a frown because obviously, this was worse then they had thought. Ace nodded, face set in a firm expression of determination as he pushed the blankets off himself, getting ready in record time before leaving their room and heading to Whitebeards. It was still early- so early that breakfast was only just getting prepared- so most everyone was still in their rooms. The only ones out and about were those on watch, the chefs in the kitchen, and the few early birds.

Sabo and Luffy both got out of bed at a slower rate then Ace had with Sabo helping Luffy get ready due to the fact that the youngest could barely get himself out of bed. When they were finally ready, they left their room and went straight to Marco's nearby room, Sabo knocking on the door without any hesitation. Luffy's hand was clutched tightly to his own, still shivering, a sheen of sweat covering his whole body.

Marco opened the door quickly enough, expression in its usual relaxed look before changing to one of concern once he saw the state Luffy was in.

"Sabo? Luffy? What's wrong, yoi?" He asked, opening his door wider and letting the two in. Sabo guided Luffy to the Commander's bed and Luffy practically fell onto it in relief, his legs feeling like jello.

"Luffy feels something. He says its like darkness, but not a person." Sabo said as he sat beside his brother.

"Is it coming from the ship?" Marco asked as he sat in his desk chair, sitting on it backwards to face them due to the fact that it was bolted to the ground.

"No, he says its heading our way though. He's been having nightmares all night because of it." Sabo said with a frown as he turned to look at Luffy, his brother's eyes drooping closed slowly before opening back up just as slow.

"How long until its here, yoi?" Marco asked with a frown of his own. Ever since they found out about the brothers' powers they had accepted them as easily as they would anyone else, as if having the ability to feel emotions was normal. Whenever Luffy mentioned he was feeling bad feelings, they took him just as seriously as they would anyone else saying they had witnessed a crime. They believed them, and Sabo wondered, not for the first time, how they had managed to stumble upon one of the better pirate crews in the world.

"After breakfast," Luffy said certainly. Now that the... whatever it was was closer, Luffy could better determine how far away it was and how long it would take for it to get here.

"Do you have an idea what this thing might be, yoi? An object? Weapon?" Marco asked, trying to get any information possible. Luffy shook his head though, telling them all that they would just have to wait until it got here to figure out what it was.

"Ace is telling Oyaji right now, but I thought it'd be best to tell you about it too seeing as Luffy's having such a strong reaction to whatever this is," Sabo said, Marco nodding in understanding as he stood.

"I'll have a few from my division keep an eye out, yoi. Could you show me where the feelings coming from?" Marco asked Luffy, the youngest nodding as he stood shakily.

As they left the commander's room, Sabo could hear more and more of the crew waking up. Ace and Whitebeard were out on deck now too, the two of them by Whitebeards chair as they spoke amongst themselves.

When they were outside, Luffy took a deep breath, trying to use the outside as a calming agent like he usually did. It helped, but not by much. His legs still felt like they would give out at any second, and he was still shivering and sweating, though not as often as before.

Luffy pointed off towards wherever the feeling was coming from, Marco thanking him before heading off to inform the necessary people of what was coming. Sabo, meanwhile, guided Luffy towards Whitebeard, knowing the man would help calm the youngest better then he could at the moment. Luffy had always been able to use the giant's expanse of warmth to help calm himself down, no matter the darkness coming from Teach, so Sabo hoped he could do the same now.

Whitebeard gave them a smile as they walked up to him, quick to lower a hand for Luffy to climb onto which the youngest did without hesitation, sighing in relief as he let the warmth from Whitebeard wash the darkness away. It wasn't gone completely- whatever this thing was had too much darkness for Whitebeard to combat- but it was enough for Luffy to relax, to stop shivering, stop sweating.

Ace and Sabo were relieved to see Luffy relaxing, even if it was only slightly, and Ace went back to speaking to Whitebeard, finishing informing him of the darkness, Sabo helping add a few things, before talking to the man about the mission he had just completed.

Marco had taken it upon himself to inform all of the Commanders about the incoming darkness, so every commander on board was out on deck, standing by Whitebeard and the brothers as they all waited impatiently for a spec of something to appear. When asked, Ace said he could see a ship in the distance, but there was a fog that blocked him from seeing it clearly, so they had no clue what kind of ship it was.

When breakfast was ready everyone made their way inside to eat. Whitebeard noticed that Luffy had fallen asleep on his shoulder where he had been resting, so as to not disturb him, he stood slowly, walking carefully to the galley with Ace and Sabo close at his feet.

The trio were all obviously tired, but once Marco explained that Luffy had had nightmares due to this incoming darkness, the commanders all understood, being as quiet as possible so Luffy could sleep.

When they were in the galley Ace and Sabo left to get food for themselves and Luffy while Whitebeard roused the youngest, careful not to knock him off his shoulder in the process. When Luffy woke up with a yawn the Captain explained it was time for breakfast, which made Luffy blink a few times in confusion before he registered where he was.

"Here Lu, we got you some food." Ace said as he set down both his own and Luffy's plate at the table. Whitebeard helped Luffy off his shoulder and the youngest quietly sat in between Sabo and Ace, eating slowly rather than his usual fast pace. This made the brothers frown, but they were happy that Luffy was at least eating something.

When they were finished Luffy returned to Whitebeard's shoulder and they all headed back out onto the deck where one of their crewmembers told them that the ship was Thatchs, the Commander having been due to return from his mission today.

"Thatchs? So whatever this feeling is is coming from his ship?" Namur asked, everyone equally confused and concerned at the same time.

"Maybe someone planted something on his ship? He had to go fight some pirates right?" Jozu asked, getting nods of affirmation.

"Or someone snuck onboard? Maybe they've got a prisoner?" Atmos suggested.

"Whatever it is, we'll find out soon," Blamenco said, looking to the ship that grew closer with every passing second.

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo were all on high alert as they watched Thatch's ship slowly reach the Moby. No one knew what they should be preparing for, so they prepared for anything and everything. Luffy sat cross-legged on Whitebeards shoulder, hands gripping tightly to the giant's coat that he wore.

Thatch's division began preparations to board, and within only minutes they were rejoining them on the Moby, all of them carrying over the loot they had with them. Luffy took deep breaths as he tried pinpointing where the darkness was coming from. It hadn't moved since they started carrying things over, so it was obviously still on the other ship, but he had no idea where it was.

Before he could figure it out though, Thatch was heading their way, box in hand, and that's when Luffy figured it out.

"Thatch has it. The box. Its in the box." Luffy said, voice just loud enough for the commanders and his brothers to hear as they all looked at the box. Marco met Thatch halfway, noticing that the close proximity of the box to Luffy was causing the young boy to shake again, even with the fact that he was sitting on Whitebeard.

Luffy didn't hear what Marco said to the other commander, his whole attention focused on the box. Everything else around him seemed to melt away until Marco was opening the box slowly, everyone's eyes trained intently on it as he did. It finally opened enough that Luffy was able to see inside, and once he did he knew exactly what he was looking at.

A sudden spark of darkness drew his attention away as his eyes narrowed in on Teach, the man standing nearby as he looked into the same box Marco had just opened and that Thatch still held. His grip on Whitebeards coat tightened, gaining the Captain's attention.

"What's wrong son?" Whitebeard asked, noticing how pale Luffy was getting. The trembling was back, and at the Captain's words, everyone turned to look at him.

It all felt too overwhelming for Luffy, the darkness coming from the box, and now the rising darkness coming from Teach. It was such an overpowering feeling, it was like a cloud was forming over the Moby, and not a good one. It threatened to swallow them all, to suffocate them in the horrible heavy, icky feelings.

"Hey, Luffy, it's alright, calm down, we're still safe, everything's alright." Sabo's soothing words broke through the panic Luffy was feeling. His brothers were sitting on either side of him now, and he realized he hadn't even noticed them join him on the Captain's shoulder.

'Teach's darkness got worse.' Luffy tapped, making both his brothers and the Captain frown. The commanders, who hadn't seen or heard what Luffy tapped, could only watch in confusion.

'He's looking at the fruit.' Ace noticed, getting a bad feeling in his stomach at the greedy look on the man's face.

"Marco, Thatch, why don't you go put that away? You can tell me all about your mission after." Whitebeard said, drawing the two Commanders' attention to him. Thatch blinked before nodding, smiling.

"Sure thing. I'll be right back." Thatch announced as he and Marco headed off, Sabo hearing Marco tell Thatch about the darkness coming from the fruit as they left the deck. Luffy tried to take some deep breaths as he felt the fruit get further away, but it wasn't far enough away for him to not be affected by it.

"We'll keep a closer eye on Teach for now. This could be whatever he's been searching for all this time." Whitebeard said in a low voice, only loud enough for the commanders to hear.

The rest of the loot was unloaded from Thatch's ship, all the meanwhile Ace kept his eyes trained to Teach like a hawk and Sabo went to talk to Thatch. Luffy stayed with Whitebeard, scared to leave the man's shoulder in case the darkness got any worse. It was already hard to keep the feelings at bay, the Captain's warmth only barely holding them back now, and he didn't want to feel the darkness anymore.

The rest of the day, everyone was tense. On edge. They all knew that Teach was up to something, they all knew that he'd had a reaction to the fruit, and they all knew that said fruit was bad news, but they just couldn't figure out what he was going to do about it. Maybe he wanted the fruit for himself? Or maybe he wanted to sell it? Or did he want to get rid of it? Why was this specific fruit causing him to have a reaction?

There were no answers, and even though Ace was watching the man and Sabo was listening to his every word, they still didn't get any closer to an answer then they started with.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

By the time night rolled around, the brothers were in their room, all trying to go to sleep. Hours passed as they tossed and turned, none of them falling asleep for more than a few minutes before they were up again, their minds racing with different thoughts and ideas as to what Teach could be doing.

It was during this time that Luffy, who was also combating the feelings coming from both the fruit, and Teach, sat up in a mixture of groggy confusion, and fear. Ace and Sabo, who still weren't asleep yet, sat up with him, concerned.

"Whats up Lu?" Ace asked, eyes flickering to the door subconsciously, practically waiting for someone to barge in and attack them.

"Teach's darkness got worse again," Luffy said meekly, the trembling starting anew. Ace and Sabo frowned the blonde straining to listen for what Teach was doing.

"He's walking somewhere. Sounds like... he's heading towards the kitchen." Sabo informed, head lowered in concentration. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his head rose again, fear bubbling off of him and into Luffy.

"Thatch is there, in the kitchen. Teach is heading his way." Sabo said softly as he continued training his ears on the man, not wanting to miss a single thing.

"Hows the darkness Luffy? Same? Better? Worse?" Ace asked, nearly frantic at the idea that Teach was finally making his move, finally showing his true colors.

"Worse," Luffy said, just as soft as Sabo had spoken.

"Alright, Luffy, you go get Marco just in case the bastards really gonna try something. Sabo, we're gonna go check on them, just to make sure." Ace ordered, already flinging the blankets off of them as he practically jumped out of the bed. Sabo and Luffy both nodded in understanding as they both got out of their bed as well, Sabo following Ace out the door and towards the kitchen while Luffy headed right to Marco's room.

It was like deja vu as he knocked on the Commander's door, shivering and sweating, however this time he was without Sabo.

It took Marco a little bit of extra time to get to the door, probably having been asleep, and Luffy could tell that was the case when the man opened the door, shirtless, and feelings fuzzy and confused.

"Luffy?" He asked, grogginess in his voice, but slowly the Commander was waking up more and more.

"Teach's darkness is getting worse, and he's heading to Thatch, and Ace and Sabo are going to check on them, but they said I should get you too just in case, but the darkness from the fruit, and from Teach, is really strong, and-" Marco, having experienced Luffy's ramblings before, knew that the only way to stop the kid from continuing was to interrupt him, so that's what he did, frown on his face as he opened his door more.

"Is it still getting worse, yoi?" Marco asked, worry seeping into his tone as he spoke. Luffy nodded, shivering again.

"He's got all the dark feelings, like the doctors before they hurt us," Luffy said, voice much lower and quieter as he spoke about the facility. Marcos frown deepened as he turned back into his room, grabbing his jacket off the chair.

"I'll check it out. You can stay here until we come get you, alright, yoi?" Marco asked, gesturing for Luffy to come in. The boy nodded, entering the room and sitting on the commander's bed again. Marco watched him for a moment as if making sure Luffy was ok, before nodding and turning to leave, closing the door behind him as he did and leaving Luffy in darkness.

The young teen sat there in the darkness for what felt like hours. He could only focus on the feelings coming from the group, from Ace and Sabo's fear, yet determination to check on Teach and Thatch, to Marcos worry as he headed their way as well. Teach's maliciousness and darkness were still on the rise, meaning the man was getting ready to do something, getting ready to act on those feelings, and Thatch stood in the kitchen still, his feelings blissfully unaware to the malice heading his way.

It was all very disconcerting for Luffy, to feel all the feelings coming from everyone, but then to be sitting safely in a room away from them all. He wanted to help too, wanted to keep Teach from harming Thatch, but he couldn't work up the courage to fight against the darkness rolling off of Teach to do anything.

Maybe if the fruit Thatch had found wasn't so close by he would have been able to, but with the way things were now, it was a struggle for Luffy to even sit on Marco's bed without having a panic attack.

He could feel Teach getting closer to Thatch, in the same room with him now. He didn't have Sabo's super hearing, so he had no clue what Teach was doing, just knew that his emotions were changing from curious, to frustration, to calm, all the while the maliciousness and darkness were still overpowering it all. Thatch was still happy, though that happiness had dimmed once Teach had entered the same room, and instead he was feeling worried, on edge.

Ace and Sabo were closing in on the two now, their feelings still much the same, and it was only moments later that they were entering the kitchen as well, Thatch and Teachs feelings turning into shock as they did. His brothers' emotions were quick to turn from their fear and instead into a fierce emotion of protectiveness.

Marco was there now as well, his emotions turning to surprise before they were changing to the same protectiveness of Ace and Sabo.

Teach's emotions turned to rage, his darkness increasing and making Luffy's breath heavy as if something was sitting on his chest and constricting his breathing. It was suffocating. He was so focused on not falling into a panic attack that he stopped monitoring the emotions, so he didn't know who was feeling the anger, who was feeling the pain, who was feeling the worry, he just knew that it was all culminating into a cloud of negativity that had Luffy squirming.

He hated all of this, wanted it all to just stop, but there was no way for him to know what was happening or when this would all be over.

He grabbed the pillow from Marco's bed and held it tight to his chest, squeezing it as tight as he could as he tried to calm down, tried to take deep breaths. He was alright, no one was hurting him.

_But his brothers could be getting hurt._

He didn't have to worry, Ace and Sabo and Thatch and Marco are strong, they could take Teach.

_But what if they couldn't?_

In a few minutes, someone would get him, tell him it was all over, and everything was alright.

_But what if they didn't?_

Every time Luffy came up with a calming thought, he had another contradicting one, telling him that it wouldn't be alright, that Teach was going to hurt them all, that his happy, peaceful time on the Moby was over.

Hopefully, Marco didn't mind that Luffy accidentally ripped his pillow in two during his panic.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Ace and Sabo both sped walked down the hallway as quick as they could, needing to see if Thatch was alright, needing to know what Teach was up to. It didn't take long for them to reach the deck, and when they did it was empty, those on patrol nowhere near them and the ones on watch high up in the crow's nest. It was dark out, the moon a crescent and barely illuminating the deck.

Sabo grabbed Aces wrist unconsciously, not wanting now to be the time he tripped and hurt himself in the dark when he had a perfectly good pair of eyes at his side.

The blonde could hear Luffy telling Marco what was happening, but he could also hear Teach in the galley, getting closer to the kitchen Thatch resided in for the time being.

Which begged the question of why in the world Thatch was in the kitchen to begin with, this late at night, but he forced himself not to think about that too much right now. There were bigger things to worry about after all.

"Teach is in the galley. We should hurry." Sabo told Ace who nodded, leading them to the galley doors in record time. They entered the empty room, but Teach was already slipping into the kitchen, the light from the other room seeping under the door that separated them. Ace and Sabo swallowed, trying to push down their fears of the man with darkness that rivaled Harus, and then they were marching towards the kitchen doors as well, ready for anything they would spot behind the door.

Of course, that was what they would have like to think, but when they opened the door and saw the knife raised in Teachs hand, Thatch's back turned to the man as he chatted almost happily to him, they were stopped in stunned silence.

This lasted only a split second though before Ace was charging the man, tackling him to the ground and knocking the knife out of his hand in the process.

Thatch turned around in surprise at the noise, eyes wide as he observed Teach struggling under Ace.

"Woah, what's going on?" Thatch asked. Sabo glared at Teach as he walked around the man, careful not to take his eyes off him, and stood near Thatch.

"Teach here just tried to stab you in the back is what just happened," Sabo told the chef as he lowered into a fighting stance.

"What?!" Thatch squeaked in surprise, eyes flitting over to the knife that lay too close to Teach for his liking. Sabo opened his mouth to speak when the door opened again and Marco entered the room. The first mate's eyes scanned everything that was happening before he was lowering into a fighting stance as well.

It was good timing too because Ace was suddenly thrown from Teach, the man much stronger then the second commander had anticipated.

"What the hell Teach?!" Thatch could only manage to ask. It was one thing to know that someone you had considered to be your brother for over a decade was going to betray you, but it was a completely other thing for that person to actually attempt murdering you.

"I knew I should have tried getting you two on my side sooner." Teach said with a tsk noise as he stood, brushing his clothes off as he did.

"Like we would ever work with a bastard like you." Ace spat, standing up himself from where he'd been thrown across the room. Sabo felt his glare harden, his frown deepen at even the thought of working with the man.

"Are you sure Commander? I could offer you a hell of a lot more than these guys ever could." Teach said, a toothy smile growing on his face that disgusted the brothers.

"You've got some nerve Teach, yoi," Marco spoke up from the doorway where he stood.

"Tell me, how did you figure it out anyway, hm?" Teach asked, ignoring Marco's words as he addressed Ace and Sabo directly, stepping towards them. The reaction was immediate as everyone else in the room tensed up, waiting for Teach to do something.

"We don't need to tell you anything," Sabo said icily, refusing to give Teach any unnecessary information.

"Aw come on Sabo, we're in the same division, right? That means we can share secrets with each other!" Teach said, his smile still on his face and tone easy-going despite the fact that he was outnumbered four to one.

"That also means we don't go attacking others on the crew, but it looks like we don't follow those rules all that well, do we?" Sabo asked, hands almost hurting from how tight he was holding his fists.

"Hm, you're right. You sure you two don't wanna join me? You could even have Luffy come along too, zehahahahaha!" Teach laughed. Ace and Sabo's skin crawled as the man mentioned their brother, and before anyone knew it, Ace was charging, fist flaming as he went to attack the man. Teach was caught by surprise, only barely dodging the attack, but not before his shoulder was burned by Aces fire.

"So that's how its gonna be, huh?" Teach asked with a sigh, his smile gone now as he righted himself, turning to face everyone.

"Shame."


	86. Taking Care of Teach

"Shame."

With that last word, Teach attacked as well, snatching up the abandoned knife on the ground and charging towards Sabo and Thatch. The chef didn't have his weapons on him, but Sabo had his pipe which he was quick to grab off his back, blocking Teachs attack.

It was a flurry of attacks after that, Thatch trying to stay out of the way seeing as he didn't have weapons while Ace, Sabo, and Marco each fought against Teach. They dodged, they threw fire, they used pipes, knives, and talons, but even though Teach was outnumbered, he still managed to put up a good fight against the three.

"Give up Teach, you're only delaying the inevitable," Marco said, breathing heavily after having been knocked back a few feet while blocking another one of Teachs attacks. He was slightly amazed at Teachs strength, but then he remembered that the man had spent years pretending to be apart of their family, so why would he have shown them their true strength?

"What you call delaying, I call strategizing." Teach said with a grin. Marco and Ace were both on the other end of the kitchen, both having been knocked back by Teach, and Sabo was near the doorway, sweating and in a bit of pain from a punch that Teach had managed to land on his chest. Thatch, however, was opposite Sabo, Teach in between them, so when the bearded man turned his attention to the man, no one was close enough to stop him.

Thatch did his best to dodge the attack, cursing himself again for leaving his weapons in his room, but there was a sharp pain in his side where Teach successfully plunged the knife. As quick as the knife had entered, it was gone when Sabo reached them and kicked Teach away. The fact that Teach held onto the knife meant the weapon was no longer plugging the wound, and blood gushed out fast over Thatch's hands as he attempted covering the wound, but with no luck.

"Thatch!" Ace and Marco shouted as they ran over. Ace helped Thatch sit on the floor and dropped to his side while Marco stood, checking the chef over quickly.

"Ace, grab some towels and put pressure on that, yoi!" Marco ordered, and as much as he wanted to help the chef more, the sound of Sabo being knocked into a table broke him from those thoughts.

"Right! Sabo, toss me those towels!" Ace called to his brother who had landed right near some of the hand towels that were scattered around the room. The blonde blinked, the wind knocked out of him after that last hit, but he nodded, grabbing the cloth and tossing it towards him right as a flash of blue flew by him and into Teach, knocking the man backward much in the same way Sabo had been flung.

"Alright, here we go." Ace muttered to himself as he bundled the cloth up and pushed down on Thatch's wound, eliciting a hiss of pain that turned into a groan from the chef.

"Hang in there Thatch." Ace said a little louder for the chef to hear. Thatch, whose eyes had closed after the sharp pain of the pressure went away, looked to Ace, vision blurry.

"What d'you think I've been trying to do here?" Thatch asked with a roll of his eyes, the pain overwhelming his thoughts, making it hard to think clearly. He felt a bit woozy and hoped that there wasn't as much blood on the ground as he thought there was.

"Looks to me like you're trying to get yourself killed," Ace responded, lips twitching upwards in a smile as he attempted to keep Thatch talking, tried to keep him awake.

The sounds of the fight didn't faze the two, because they knew it was still going on, it was just a matter of who got hurt next, Teach or them.

"I think you need t' get your eyes checked. 'M obviously doin' jus' fine." Thatch said, words slurring a bit, head laying against the floor as he stared at the ceiling.

"My visions perfect thank you, better than your old man's vision, that's for sure." Ace said, making Thatch laugh, though even that was cut short as another wave of pain followed.

"Sorry." Ace said with a wince, realizing that maybe he shouldn't have made a joke that would cause Thatch even more pain.

"Oi, oi, don't go thinkin' I can't handle a little bit of pain!" Thatch said, his expression telling Ace he was offended, but his tone light and joking.

Another crash behind them clued them into the, still, ongoing fight.

"If this is a little, then what's a lot?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow, eyes looking down at his hands which were soaked with blood, the once white towel stained a dark red.

"Oh, y'know, gettin' burned alive maybe? Or maybe gettin' stabbed in the back? Cause, that's like, metaphorical, _and_ physical pain, you know?" Thatch asked, eyebrows furrowed as he spoke, breathing coming out in pants and his eyelids drooping more and more as he spoke. Ace frowned as he saw the subtle changes in the chef, saw his friend slowly grow more and more lethargic, which was not a good sign.

"Oi, Thatch, don't fall asleep, you hear?" Ace asked, trying to keep his tone calm and even, but it came out slightly frantic.

"Whad'ya talkin' 'bout? 'M jus'... closin' 'm for a second." Thatch said with a frown, closing his eyes again, his breathing too light for Aces liking. It had been about five minutes since Thatch had been stabbed, and he was really hoping that the fight would be over soon so they could get the man some help.

Of course, that's when Thatch passed out, much paler then he had been when he had first been stabbed.

"Thatch? Oi, Thatch! Wake up! I told you not to go to sleep!" Ace said, a hint of anger in his tone even though he knew it was irrational to be angry with the bleeding man, knew that it wasn't really Thatch's fault for passing out. The amount of blood on the floor, on his hands, on the towel, was a lot more then he would have liked, and he knew enough to know Thatch needed help soon.

Which is exactly what they got.

The door opened, and suddenly the Commanders were rushing in, one after another, and at the end of them was Whiskey and two other nurses, Mary and Margarite.

The fight after that wasn't even much of a fight, to be honest. With all the commanders and Sabo against Teach, it was over within seconds, though not before Teach was able to knick a few with the wild swinging of his knife, determined to not go down without doing as much damage as possible.

While that was happening Whiskey came over and relieved Ace of his task of putting pressure on Thatch's wound, and the second his hands were off the towel, the nurses were checking Thatch's wound, checking his blood pressure, his heart rate, everything. A gurney had been brought with them, and they were quick to place the chef on it with Aces help before they were off, heading to the infirmary as quick as possible without harming Thatch further.

Everything almost went by in a blur for Ace after that, watching as Jozu put shackles on Teach and made him stand, marching him out of the kitchen and to the brig. Sabo walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking to him, but he didn't hear a word of it.

Another nurse came in and said something, and then he was being guided to the infirmary by Sabo who he noticed had quite a few cuts and some bruises that were quickly forming.

When they were out on the deck there were quite a few crew members out and about. Even though it was still the middle of the night, the commotion had woken them and they'd been quick to see what was happening. Amongst them was Luffy, and when Sabo and Ace emerged from the galley, he rushed forward, tears in his eyes as he did.

"Ace! Sabo! I was so scared, cause I could feel the feelings, and I knew someone was hurt so I went and got Izo, and then I got Whiskey, and they told me it'd be alright, but I knew Teach was really strong cause you were fighting for a long time, and I think I ripped Marcos pillow- sorry Marco- but I couldn't help it, and I-"

"Luffy, yoi, it's fine, you can calm down. Everything's taken care of, we just need to go see the nurses. You know how Whiskey is about her check-ups." Marco said soothingly, smiling to the youngest as he walked over and stood beside Ace and Sabo.

"Really? You're not hurt too too bad, right?" Luffy asked. He could still feel Thatch was in pain and that was making it harder to discern how much pain his brothers were in.

"I'm a phoenix, remember? I don't hurt much at all, yoi." Marco assured, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"But what about Thatch? I can feel he's in pain still, even though Whiskey and Margarite took him." Luffy said softly.

"Like Marco said Lu, we'll all be alright. The nurses are good at what they do, remember?" Sabo asked with a smile, both trying to reassure Luffy as well as reassure himself.

"Mm..." Luffy hummed, still a little unsure.

"Come on Luffy, why don't you come with us. So you can see that we're really alright." Ace asked, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders and guiding him to the infirmary.

"But the medicine rooms all smelly!" Luffy whined, nose already scrunching at just the memory of the burning smells in the room.

"Do you wanna come or not?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow. Luffy was quiet a second before he pouted, walking alongside his brothers towards the infirmary.

"Thought so." Ace said a bit smugly as they walked along, a small smile on his face at the ease of their conversation. Even though Thatch was injured, even though Teach had just betrayed them, even though they were more than a little banged up, this normal conversation, the jokes that they shared amongst themselves, made everything feel like it was going to be alright.

That didn't mean they weren't worried though. There was plenty to be worried about after all, from wondering if Thatch would survive and be ok, to wondering what was going to happen with Teach now, to the devil fruit that still put Luffy off. There was a mile-long list of things they could overthink, but as they walked to the infirmary, they all didn't think about any of it. Instead they continued to joke, continued to laugh, and even though Luffy could feel everyone's underlying worry, he ignored it as well in favor of the better feelings.

Their check-in with the nurses was relatively quick. They bandaged the bleeding cuts on Sabo, checked Ace over to make sure he didn't have any internal damage from being thrown into one too many tables and looked over Marco to make sure his devil fruit had healed everything necessary. They were cleared within minutes, and after, they left, heading to Whitebeards room where the Captain still remained.

Even though there had been a commotion thanks to Teach, the nurses had kept Whitebeard confined to his room, knowing that all the Commanders would be able to handle Teach. This walk was a little more somber then their walk to the infirmary had been, because now they had to face what had happened, had to take the reality that Thatch was in the infirmary with a pretty nasty injury, and they had a traitor in their brig. No jokes were made now, no laughing was heard, and no one even spoke to each other the entire walk there.

Many of the commander's doors were still open seeing as they had been in a rush, so as they walked down the hall to the Captain's room, they could catch glimpses into everyone's rooms. Haruta's was quite a mess, clothes and papers strewn around the place. It was a harsh contrast to the room beside it, Izo's, which was pristine, not a speck out of place. Across from Izo's was Fossa's, the 15th Commanders room filled with more mechanical looking things, from oil to scrap metal.

It made the depressing walk a slight bit more entertaining to get a peek into the Commander's different lives, especially when Luffy's arm stretched into Rakuyo's room and grabbed a sock. The young teen promptly threw the sock into Vista's room, whistling as he did. Ace and Sabo couldn't help but snicker, and when Marco didn't say anything about it, Luffy laughed as well. The first commander merely shook his head and sighed.

"If those two cause any damages it's coming out of your allowance Luffy, yoi," Marco said sternly, but Luffy only laughed more in response.

Finally, they reached Whitebeards room, Marco knocking and entering without any hesitation, Whitebeard already expecting them to come.

"My sons." Whitebeard greeted, the two nurses at his bedside nodding to them as they left.

"Pops. We've captured Teach and are currently holding him in the brig." Marco said as they all walked in fully now.

"Injuries?" Whitebeard asked, already noticing the bandages on Sabo.

"Mostly minor. Thatch was stabbed though, yoi. The nurses are currently working on him." Marco said with a frown, though his voice didn't waver from its stoic, calm tone. Luffy could feel the man's contradicting feelings though, the anger towards Teach, the worry for Thatch, and the need to remain calm, all battling inside him.

"How did you know Teach was going to act?" Whitebeard asked, turning to look at the brothers now.

"We couldn't really fall asleep so when Teachs darkness got worse Luffy noticed right away. Sabo and I went to check on him since he was heading towards Thatch and we sent Luffy to get Marco just in case." Ace explained. Whitebeard sat back in his bed, taking in Aces words, eyes closed.

"We'll have a meeting in the morning to discuss everything properly. We can figure out what to do with Teach then as well. For now, have some guards set up to watch Teach and make sure he doesn't escape," Whitebeard said to Marco, the commander nodding.

"And you three go and try to get some rest." Whitebeard continued, turning to look at the brothers with his usual warm smile.

"Can we sleep here?" Luffy asked, voice small as he spoke. As much as he wanted to sleep, as much as they all wanted to sleep, they hadn't been able to before. Luffy especially couldn't, not when all the darkness was still onboard, but when he was near Whitebeard, it was bearable. It was easier near the Captain, the man's warmth combated the darkness enough that he could almost feel relaxed.

"Of course my son," Whitebeard said, shifting and making space for the brothers who eagerly climbed onto the giant bed. It took only a mere minute for the exhaustion to take over all of them, Luffy the first to fall asleep, followed quickly by Sabo and then finally Ace. Marco smiled along with Whitebeard, both remembering when the brothers had first arrived on the Moby and would have never allowed them to get this close.

Even after all of this, everything would be alright.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

When morning came, all of the Commanders and Whitebeard headed straight to the conference room while Sabo and Luffy headed to the galley for breakfast. It was a little lonely at the table seeing as it would only be Sabo and Luffy, so the two sat with some others from the second division instead. It wasn't the first time that the commanders and Captain were all in a meeting during a meal, so they were used to finding somewhere else to sit. It helped that, during their year on the Moby, they'd made quite a few new friends, especially amongst the second division.

Of course, everyone wanted to know about what happened last night, and word got around that Teach had betrayed them, but the two brothers didn't say anything about it, changing the subject to something much more light-hearted.

Thankfully, no one pushed too hard on it after that, all of them understanding that Whitebeard would bring it up eventually and they would find out that way. The conversation moved on to when they thought they would reach the next island, to the chores that everyone had to do, and then to the weather, everyone wondering how long the nice weather would last.

Sabo used the noise in the galley to tune out the talking he could vaguely hear coming from the meeting that the commanders and Whitebeard were having, and Luffy used the warmth from Sabo and the happiness coming from a few people to battle the worry and concern radiating off of many of the pirates, especially those from Thatch's division. There was also the darkness coming from both the fruit and Teach, but there were so many other strong emotions around him that Luffy was able to fight away the dark feelings.

After breakfast finished, the commander's meeting was finally over and they were all heading back onto the deck again. This gained most everyone's attention, everyone wanting to know what the news was, and they got their answer when Whitebeard addressed them all, the commanders standing at his side as he did.

He recapped last night's events for everyone, telling them all about how they had been wary of Teach for a while now and how last night he had betrayed them. The crew knew about the brother's enhanced abilities, so it came to no surprise to them when Whitebeard mentioned Luffy felt the darkness in the man which is what set off last night's events. The verdict on what was to happen to Teach was still to be determined seeing as it was still in the air on whether Thatch would recover from his wound or not, but the nurses said that there was a good chance he would.

Teach was to be kept in the brig until Thatch was awake, or Kami forbid, dead, and when one of the two occurred, they would decide what was going to happen to the man.

When Whitebeard finished speaking everyone dispersed once more, the commanders and Whitebeard heading to the galley to eat, while the rest of the crew went about their original business, whether that be doing chores, switching out for watch, or relaxing.

Sabo and Luffy met up with Ace, the three of them heading to the galley with the rest of the commanders, and started talking to him about everything they'd talked about during breakfast.

It was almost like normal. Almost like Thatch wasn't fighting for his life in the infirmary. Almost like Teach wasn't only a couple dozen feet away from a fruit he, for whatever reason, was drawn to.

If they were able to forget about all of that, it was almost a normal day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Teach has been captured, but Thatch has been injured as well. Writing this chapter was actually a little difficult for me because I had so many different ideas on what could end up happening, from Thatch getting hurt to not getting hurt at all, to Teach getting caught to Teach escaping. With future events in mind, I decided that this would be the best course of action to take and so, Thatch is hurt and Teach is captured.
> 
> Also, I don't think I mentioned it before, but I like the idea that all the nurses working for Whitebeard are all named after alcohol. Whiskey is obvious, but there's also Margarite named after Margarita and another named Shirley for Shirley Temple. It's just a small thing, but it amuses me.


	87. The Trial

After two whole days of worrying for Thatch's safety, two days of having a devil fruit that practically bleeds darkness on board, and two days of having Teach locked up tight, Thatch finally woke up.

It happened right after lunch was over, Whiskey coming out and telling Whitebeard and the nearby commanders what had happened. Luffy could feel the relief coming from every one of them, which in turn relieved him, and Sabo could hear Thatch talking to a nurse in the infirmary, solidifying for him that the chef was truly ok.

Whitebeard and Marco were the only two allowed to see him right away, and seeing as the matter of Teach needed to be resolved, that was exactly what they talked to the chef about.

Thatch told them that he remembered having to set out some things for breakfast the following day, so he had been in the kitchen doing that when Teach had walked in. Apparently, Teach had been asking him what he was going to do with the devil fruit he'd found, and after Thatch told him he didn't think he wanted to eat it, that was when Ace and Sabo had entered, knocking Teach to the ground and starting the fight.

It only confirmed the Captain and first mates suspicions that Teach was after the fruit, but they still didn't know why. They didn't understand why the man had gone through all of the trouble of pretending to be apart of the Whitebeards just to get a single fruit and throw all those years of hard work away. Of course, there was the possibility that Teach only wanted the safety that came with being apart of the crew, as well as the ability to search larger areas if he really was solely going after this singular fruit.

Whitebeard informed Thatch that they had captured Teach and that he had been the only one badly injured, which relieved the chef. They also told him they had yet to determine what they should do with Teach seeing as Thatch had been asleep the entire time, and now that the chef was awake they would have to figure that out.

When they finished talking, Whiskey came over, telling them all that Thatch should stay in the infirmary for at least another week to let him heal and to make sure there weren't any complications with his wound, and after a bit of whining from the chef and some stern words from Whiskey, Thatch conceded to the restrictions, settling back into his bed and trying to get comfortable for the time he would be stuck there.

Whitebeard and Marco left after that, wishing Thatch well as they did.

"Go and get Teach. Warn Luffy first though, so he can prepare himself for the stronger emotions." Whitebeard told Marco, the man nodding and heading off at a faster pace than the Captain so he could do as told.

Whitebeard walked at a more leisurely pace, sighing once he was alone. He had known thanks to the brothers that Teach was going to betray them, but betrayal wasn't easy to deal with regardless of how much time in advance you knew about it. Betrayal was betrayal all the same. Thanks to Teach he had a son wounded in the infirmary, three more sons who were still healing from their traumatic experiences from the facility who now had to worry about Teach, and a whole crew full of sons who were all still in shock that they had been betrayed in the first place.

It was a lot to deal with, but Whitebeard had been dealt worse hands before. He knew they would pull through this. His family was strong, he believed in them, and once this was all over they would come out stronger than ever.

Walking out on deck, the atmosphere was light and happy as the news that Thatch was awake spread. Everyone had been worried for the commander naturally, they were family after all, so when one person heard he was alright, another heard almost immediately, the news spreading like a wildfire until everyone knew.

The captain chuckled to himself as he made his way to his chair, pride filling him at the vitality of his children.

When he made it to the chair and sat down, his youngest son, Luffy, came right over. Already knowing what the boy wanted, Whitebeard leaned down and opened his hand for the boy to climb on, moving him to his shoulder like he'd done before.

He knew it must be hard on the youngest to have to handle all of the feelings on board right now, and if being near him helped him handle it better, the Captain would do what he could. He didn't want Luffy to have to suffer unnecessarily if he could help it.

A slight tremor ran through Luffy's body, but before Whitebeard could look to see if he was alright, Marco reappeared on deck, the two who had been in charge of watching Teach behind him, along with the man himself. The traitor.

Luffy clung to Whitebeard's coat, and the Captain tried his best to send the boy some warmth. It was something the Captain had been trying to do for a while now, and with help from the three brothers, he was getting better at it. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't, but it seemed it worked this time because Luffy's grip relaxed a bit, the boy calming down ever so slightly.

All of the commanders besides Marco stood by Whitebeards chair, Ace included, while the rest of the crew watched from the deck rather than standing in the amphitheater-like zone where Teach was being led. Sabo also stood beside Whitebeard's chair, ready in case Luffy needed him.

It was silent as everyone watched the traitor be marched in front of Whitebeard. No one said a word, not even a whisper, all watching in anticipation.

Luffy could feel the waves of hatred, anger, distrust, flowing off of his surrounding ship brothers. He could feel the darkness, the frustration, the anger, the hint of fear coming from Teach. He could feel the warmth, the pride, the anger coming from Whitebeard. Lastly, he could feel the fruit, which was still locked away, radiating darkness.

It was so many different, yet similar emotions all trying to make their way into him, but he tried to keep them out. Tried focusing on anything but the overwhelming emotions.

Finally, Teach was in front of Whitebeard, the two who had brought him out forcing him to kneel on the ground and remaining close by him. Marco stayed near Teach as well, remaining there with the other two in case Teach tried to do anything.

"Marshall D. Teach." Whitebeards voice boomed loudly, the only noise on the silent deck.

"You have betrayed one of your own. Do you have a reason for doing so?" Whitebeard asked, frown on his face now as he spoke. Teach sneered at the giant, but answered regardless.

"Commander Thatch had something I wanted. No hard feelings really." Teach replied, smirking to the Captain now. Many frowned at his answer, and a few nearly started throwing insults at the man, but Whitebeard stopped them when he raised his hand, signaling them not to speak. He knew his children weren't happy with Teach, no one was, but he wanted to keep some semblance of order. If one person started yelling at Teach, then everyone else would follow, and that would do nothing but cause a riot.

"I think Thatch begs to differ," Whitebeard responded evenly, despite the anger he could feel rising.

"You know, I've got a question," Teach said before Whitebeard could say anything more. Before anyone could tell Teach he didn't have a right to ask questions, he continued, eyes narrowing in on Sabo and then Ace.

"How is it you two knew to come to the kitchen, hm? Midnight snack?" Teach asked with another grin. Ace felt a familiar fury start to take hold as he locked eyes with the bearded traitor, and Sabo felt similar feelings, but neither answered, no matter how much they wanted to.

"Zehahaha, I knew you two were something special. Truly a shame your talents were wasted here. Especially that little one. I bet you were behind all of it, weren't you Luffy?" Teach asked, attention turning to the youngest who sat on Whitebeard's shoulder. The boy had been sitting silently so far, calm, but now that Teachs attention was on him he started shifting, trembling ever so slightly once more as he felt the darkness in Teach rise.

"Enough. Teach, you attacked your crew mates for no reason other than your own personal gain. So far you've said nothing in your own defense, given no explanation as to why besides greed." Whitebeard said, voice once again booming loudly over the otherwise silent deck. Teach frowned now, looking at Whitebeard with a glare, and Luffy could feel Teachs anger rise, but also the fear the man had.

"I don't need to explain myself to a dying old man like you. As I said before, Thatch had something I wanted, what other reason do you want besides that? This was all just a means to an end. Did you think I actually liked being here? Being apart of your pretend family? I don't particularly enjoy playing house, and when I finally saw my opportunity to leave, I took it." Teach declared, making everyone watching glare at the man.

"Whatever the case is, betrayal will never be tolerated," Whitebeard responded, still looking deceptively calm, even with the slight frown he wore. Luffy felt the giant shift and took it as his cue to get off the man's shoulder, jumping off and landing beside Sabo.

"Marshall D. Teach, for your act of betrayal you must accept the consequences," Whitebeard said as he stood up out of his chair, bisento in hand. Luffy could feel the fear spike in Teach and shifted closer to Sabo, though didn't take his eyes off the man.

It happened quick, Whitebeard raising his weapon, before swinging it down and slicing Teachs head clean off. Silence reigned on the ship for a moment longer, some still glaring at the decapitated body of Teach in disdain.

Luffy watched as Teachs body fell to the ground with almost a mesmerizing look. He had been around death before, back in the facility, but whenever one of the other children died, their emotions would slowly fade away, like when someone fell asleep. Teach's, however, were cut off so abruptly it was almost disorienting for Luffy. The darkness Teach had been emitting was there one second, and then gone the next, leaving only the darkness from the devil fruit still on board.

"You ok Luffy?" Sabo asked from beside him, dragging Luffy's attention away from the body. The youngest blinked, ridding himself of his musings, and nodded.

"Mm. Teach's darkness is gone." He said with a relieved breath, Sabo giving him a gentle smile.

"That's good. Is the devil fruit still giving off darkness?" The blonde asked. Luffy nodded again.

"It's not too bad now that there isn't any darkness coming from Teach," Luffy answered honestly. Now that Teachs darkness was gone, the darkness from the devil fruit was much more manageable.

"Well that's good too, we wouldn't want it to be difficult for you until we can find out what to do with the fruit." Rakuyos voice drew both the brothers' attention over to the commander heading their way. Ace and Haruta were making their way over as well, and a splash in the ocean beside them clued them in to the fact that the two who had escorted Teach out on deck had just dumped his body overboard.

"Thatch doesn't want it?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, apparently he told Oyaji that he even told Teach he wasn't planning on eating it and the bastard was still going to attack him." Ace responded now, having heard from Marco earlier.

"Bastard. Good riddance." Haruta mumbled arms crossed over his chest as he said this, a scowl on his face. They all nodded their agreement to the words, remaining silent for a moment.

"Do we have any idea what we're doing with the fruit then?" Sabo asked. Luffy wanted to go do something else, bored from the conversation, but he was curious about what was going to happen with the dark fruit, so he remained at Sabo's side, listening closely to everyone's words as they spoke.

"No, we don't like the possibility of one of our enemies getting the fruit, and if its radiating darkness like Luffy says it is we also don't want a random civilian getting it either, so we cant sell it or give it away. We could possibly give it to one of our allies, but even that isn't such a good idea in case this fruit really is bad news. Our next option is to sink it in the sea, but who knows how long it'll take until someone manages to stumble upon it." Rakuyo said, ending his words with a shrug.

"So basically we're keeping it until further notice." Ace said, summing it all up, Haruta and Rakuyo nodding. Now that Luffy knew the plan, he let his attention drift away. Sabo continued talking to the three, but Luffy didn't want to stay anymore, so he looked for something to do.

The other commanders were all gone by now, Luffy wondering if they had work to do. Whitebeard was gone too, but when he felt for the warmth Luffy could tell it was coming from the infirmary, so the Captain was probably visiting Thatch.

That was an idea.

The nurses hadn't wanted to let anyone but Whitebeard and Marco into the infirmary to visit Thatch earlier, but what about now?

Luffy looked back over to Ace and Sabo and took note of the fact that they were both still talking with Rakuyo and Haruta, so he walked away, off towards the infirmary. Over the year they were with the Whitebeards the brothers had branched out more, and no longer was it a strange sight to see one of them walking without the other two around.

When Luffy reached the infirmary, he poked his head in hesitantly. Even though he and his brothers had gotten used to the nurses on board the Moby, it didn't mean they wanted to intentionally anger them. Besides, the infirmary still burned his nose, and if it weren't for the fact that Luffy was still worried about Thatch, he would have avoided this place like he always does.

That wasn't the case though, and Thatch was hurt, so he wanted to see if he was getting better. If that meant he had to deal with the burning smells of alcohol and disinfectant, he would.

He spotted Whitebeard easily, the giant sitting beside a bed that was undoubtedly Thatch's. He also spotted Whiskey at the bed as well, and all the other nurses inside were milling around as usual, though none of them had taken notice of Luffy yet.

Pushing open the door more, Luffy slipped inside fully now before he softly made his way over to the same bed Whiskey and Whitebeard were at. He couldn't see Thatch yet, Whiskey was blocking him, so Luffy didn't know what to expect when he did see him. When he had waited outside the galley with the rest of the crew the night Teach attacked, Luffy had caught a glimpse of Thatch when the nurses carried him out, but it had been dark and Luffy had been distracted with the feelings of pain, darkness, and worry coming from everyone surrounding him.

When he got closer and finally saw the chef, he was already looking much better then Luffy remembered and expected. He looked a little too pale and maybe a little tired, but other than that, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was anything wrong with the chef.

Luffy smiled brightly, opening his mouth in preparation to yell out the man's name, but closed it last second. The nurses were always strict on how loud you could be when you were in the infirmary, they didn't want you disturbing patients trying to rest, and Luffy was already in danger of getting yelled at for entering without permission, so he decided not to make it worse for himself and remained quiet as he continued walking over to Thatch.

Whitebeard was the first to notice him, and when he did he smiled gently to him, the warmth radiating like a heater and drawing Luffy in.

"Couldn't wait?" Whitebeard asked with a light chuckle that got Whiskey and Thatch's attention, the two turning to look at Luffy.

"Luffy! Buddy, how are you?" Thatch asked with a smile. Luffy felt the happiness coming from the chef and felt himself smile as he reached Thatch's bed, standing beside Whitebeard who lifted him onto his lap.

"I'm good. Are you alright Thatch? Cause I could feel all the emotions and stuff and they were really scary, and you were in a lot of pain." Luffy said, smile falling at the memory of all the pain he'd felt coming from the chef that night.

"Of course, I'm all good thanks to our wonderful nurses here on the Moby! A little poke like this won't take me down, and you know I can't lie to you." Thatch said to Luffy, winking at the end and making the youngest laugh quietly to himself. It was true though, Thatch's emotions were still light and happy, and even though there was a bit of pain and discomfort lingering, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before.

"That's all well and good, but what are you doing here Luffy? Only Pops and Marco are allowed for now, you know that." Whiskey said sternly, causing Luffy to pout and look away from the nurse.

"But it was boring out on deck! Ace and Sabo are just talking to Ruta and Rakuyo, and I wanted to make sure Thatch was ok." Luffy said with a slight whine to his voice as he did. Whiskey continued frowning at Luffy, but when Whitebeard laughed she turned her frown to him instead.

"Its alright Whiskey, Luffy was just worried. Besides, you were just about to allow more visitors, correct?" Whitebeard asked the nurse. Whiskey huffed, hugging her clipboard to her chest.

"That may be the case Pops, but Luffy didn't know that. If we just allow people to come in whenever even if we say not to then it'll get out of control. However, I'll let it slide just this once, and that's only because you were the one to find out Thatch was in trouble in the first place." Whiskey said, ending with another sigh. Luffy beamed to the nurse, nodding happily to her as he did.

"Well, as I was saying before, you're healing well, and now that your bandages have been changed you should be good to have visitors for a bit. I'll wait a few minutes before telling the others so you three can talk." Whiskey said, getting nods from Thatch and smiles from Whitebeard and Luffy.

"Thanks, Whiskey!" They all said in unison, though Thatch and Luffy spoke with much more enthusiasm then Whitebeard did.

"Oh, and Luffy, make sure you tell your brothers that your sessions been rescheduled to tomorrow seeing as we've all been too busy to have it earlier." Whiskey said before walking away.

"Shishishi, thanks Pops!" Luffy said, turning to look up at Whitebeard who laughed, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"It was no problem son, but next time, try to listen to Whiskey. We all know how she can get." The captain said, getting shudders from both Thatch and Luffy.

"Yeah, its best you don't anger her Lu." Thatch said from his bed. Luffy nodded in understanding, but his smile never left his face. Even though Whiskey could get a little scary when she was angry, it was never like the doctors at the facility, and just knowing that Whiskey could be a lot meaner made it easier to deal with the idea of her usual wrath.

"So Luffy, why don't you tell me about all the fun I undoubtedly missed, hm? Whenever I'm not around it seems you and your brothers always get into some crazy mess!" Thatch said with a grin, settling into the bed. Luffy laughed.

"But you were there this time Thatch!" Luffy said with a smile. Thatch blinked, slow realization appearing on his face before he smiled as well.

"Huh, I guess I finally got my wish then. I was finally caught up in the trio's crazy adventures!" Thatch said with a wide grin.

Whitebeard and Luffy laughed, but they were cut short when the infirmary door busted open, Commanders flooding in.

"Oi, Thatch, you finally awake?!"

"Ace, are you trying to have Whiskey kick us out already?!"

"You may as well save your breath Ruta, its useless when it comes to Ace."

"But Izo, I don't want to be punished because of his loud mouth!"

"Whose got a loud mouth?!"

Thatch sighed while Whitebeard and Luffy laughed quietly.

"So much for giving us time to talk peacefully."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> So, Teach has been given due punishment for his crimes. The trial wasn't much of a trial honestly. It was more akin to an execution seeing as everyone knew Teach was guilty of betrayal. Either way, the results were the same and Teach has been taken care of permanently. I saw a review earlier about how Teach was very confident in himself even when he was outnumbered in the fight with Thatch- Thank you for the review Imperatia- and I wanted to address that here really quick.
> 
> Even though Teach was outnumbered, he was confident he could take them because, admittedly, he's rather smart and he isn't exactly a push over either. He was much stronger than they were expecting him to be which gave him a sort of 'Element of Surprise', and his plan was originally to hurt each of them enough that they couldn't stop him from escaping, starting with Thatch. What he wasn't counting on was Luffy getting the rest of the Commanders to come and apprehend him. Because of that, at the end of the fight I write that he was swinging his knife wildly in an attempt to hurt anyone he could. This is because he realized he was about to be captured and was becoming frantic. At the trial, Luffy could feel his fear, though small in the beginning, because Teach knew what was coming and couldn't get away from it. He tried to hide it by acting confident in himself, but it didn't matter in the end.
> 
> Now, Teach is gone and the Yami-Yami no mi is still on board the Moby, a fruit that exudes darkness.


	88. Making a New Wave

With Thatch awake and Teach taken care of, the moral of the Whitebeard Pirates was once again through the roof. Even though it was early morning there were quite a few crew members up and about, getting a head start on their chores for the day as they waited for breakfast to be ready.

It had been a few days since Thatch had woken up and his recovery was going well. The nurses still stuck by their estimate that Thatch would be good as new in a week's time, and while everyone agreed that that would be the best, Thatch tried everything he could to convince the nurses he didn't need to stay for so long. His excuses ranged from, 'I can sit up without any pain at all now, which means I'm practically all done healing,'- which Luffy was quick to call him out on, telling Whiskey that Thatch actually did feel a slight ache from sitting up- to, 'I think this one time Ace got some of his blood on me which gave me his super cool healing powers, so I should be good to leave tomorrow.' For obvious reasons, no one believed that one.

Needless to say, Thatch was still stuck in the infirmary. He had plenty of visitors though, from the commanders coming to check up on him, Whitebeard telling him stories, Luffy and Sabo coming to talk and make jokes, or even Thatch's division coming to give reports and updates on everything they were doing.

That day the brothers were all waking up for the day rather early. It wasn't unheard of for them to be up so early, but it didn't happen every day.

All three of them had slept peacefully that night, no nightmares for any of them, so it was a bit confusing when Ace and Sabo both saw the pensive, thoughtful look on Luffy's face.

"Whats up Lu?" Ace asked as he put one of his boots on while standing, wobbling a bit as he tried to keep his balance while doing so. The youngest of the three was quiet for a moment, but Ace and Sabo didn't pressure him to speak, merely continued getting ready for the day while sending him concerned glances.

"Mm... I think... I wanna make a wave." Luffy eventually said, shocking the two elder brothers. Ace nearly fell on his face in shock as he lost his balance again, but caught himself just in time, booted foot slamming to the ground a little too hard. Sabo wasn't much better, the blonde nearly tripping over the blankets that were pooling on the ground beside the bed where they'd been tugged off.

"W-what?!" The two asked in unison, tones full of both shock and surprise. Luffy could feel his brother's emotions, had been expecting them, so when he felt the shock and surprise practically fill the room he tried to ignore it.

"Why?" Sabo asked after a few seconds of Luffy not responding. Still, Luffy remained silent, and now that his brothers' surprise was dimming, he could begin to feel the tell-tale worry and concern making itself present once again. Feeling this, he shifted nervously on their bed, eyes down as he stared at his hands in his lap.

"Luffy, what brought this on all of a sudden?" Ace asked, voice much calmer and gentler, then it had been before, the concern creeping into his tone as he spoke. Luffy finally peeked up to look at his brothers but looked down once he saw their expressions, ones that only mirrored the concern that Luffy already could feel coming from them.

"Well... I have waves with Ace and Sabo, but I don't have any with anyone from the crew." Luffy responded weakly. Even though he had brought this up, he still wasn't completely sure how he felt about this. He wanted a wave with someone else, felt almost a need to make one, but that didn't mean he was free from the memories of what had happened in the facility, what the possible outcome of making a wave with someone would be.

"Yeah, but... are you sure? You've never, uh, wanted to make waves with anyone before." Ace asked nervously, not sure how to approach talking about this sensitive subject. He knew Whiskey had helped his brothers, as well as himself, immensely. He knew that she had gotten to the root of all of their trauma months ago, and had been helping them get past it, but Luffy had never mentioned anything about making waves, not since he had been forced to by the doctors. Ace wasn't even quite sure if Whiskey knew about that part of Luffy's trauma.

"I-I didn't want to hurt anyone," Luffy replied softly, yet truthfully. He had been too scared, and still too traumatized before to even consider making a wave with anyone else. He worried that he didn't know the pirates well enough, worried he didn't know their souls well enough, and if he tried, he worried that would cause them to die. Now, however, he felt differently. He still worried that he would fail, that he would hurt someone, but he still wanted to try. He believed he knew and trusted them enough to be able to do this, and after dozens of sessions with Whiskey, it was marginally easier to think about the catastrophe that had been the facility forcing him to kill other children.

Ace and Sabo, on the other hand, had remained silent, the two of them looking at each other as they tried to figure out whether this was a good idea or not. It wasn't that they didn't believe Luffy could do it, it was just that if they allowed Luffy to do this and it went wrong, there would be far too many consequences.

"Why don't... why don't we go talk to Whiskey and Oyaji about this? If they agree, then I don't see why not. Just to be sure though, you really want to do this?" Ace asked one more time for confirmation. When Luffy nodded yet again, the eldest sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Alright then."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"So that's how it is then, hm?" Whitebeard asked to himself after Ace, Sabo, and Luffy explained to him what the youngest wanted to do. They were out on the deck, but most people weren't paying their conversation any mind, everyone still caught up in their own actions to pay attention. Marco, per usual, stood beside Whitebeards chair, listening closely to every word the brothers said.

"Do you know who you'd like to make a wave with?" Whitebeard asked Luffy, the boy shifting under the attention. He shook his head because he hadn't really thought about it too much, he just felt like he had to make a wave with someone. Whitebeard leaned back into his chair, humming to himself.

"I wouldn't mind, yoi," Marco said from where he stood, face not giving any of his emotions away, but Luffy could feel the worry that Marco felt for Luffy, could feel that the commander felt confident in his own words. It reassured Luffy as he scanned the emotions, not finding a hint of fear coming from the man at the possibility that this process could kill him.

"Are you sure Marco?" Sabo asked, the worry increasing in his brothers who were watching the first mate carefully.

"Yeah, besides, maybe my devil fruit would make this whole thing less lethal," Marco said with a shrug. He brought up a good point though because Marco always healed from wounds. Whether making a wave could be healed in the same way as physical wounds could, they didn't know, but it was their best bet to try this out on Marco if anyone.

"We still want to talk to Whiskey about this, but we wanted to get Pops' permission first." Ace said now that the matter of who was going to make a wave with Luffy was settled.

"It's alright with me," Whitebeard said with a nod of his head.

"I'll come with you, yoi," Marco said to the brothers who were now turning to head to the infirmary.

Once they reached the strong-smelling room, Ace was quick to track down the nurse they needed to speak to, gesturing her over. Thatch slept peacefully in his bed, blissfully unaware of what was happening only a few feet away from him.

"What's up, guys?" Whiskey asked once she finally reached the group. It was once again explained to the nurse what Luffy planned on attempting and the nurse listened, a familiar look of concern crossing her features, just like with everyone else who heard about the plan. It was obvious to Ace and Sabo that she and Luffy must have brought up the trauma surrounding this process because Whiskey constantly turned to look at Luffy while they spoke as if to reassure that Luffy was still doing alright and was on board with this idea.

"Well, I can't say I know what the possible repercussions of this are. You and Sabo are the only two to have had this done successfully, so if there are different outcomes I wouldn't know. I don't even know what changes creating waves could have had on you two seeing as I wasn't there when it happened. If we are doing this I want to be there just in case something happens. Also, that means full check-ups both before and after Commander Marco, regardless of the fact that you think you're fine because of your fruit." Whiskey said, voice becoming stern as she turned to the commander who rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright," Marco said, raising his hands in surrender. The nurse narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, as if not believing he would give in so easily, but brushed it off quickly, gesturing for them to follow her as she led them to one of the nearby beds, the one next to where Thatch lay sleeping.

"Wait here, I'm going to go get a new file for this." Whiskey said once Marco was seated on the bed, the trio of brothers standing at the foot of the bed as they watched. Marco nodded and the nurse headed off, leaving them alone. It was at this moment that Thatch woke up, eyes squinting as he shifted slightly. Luffy could feel the previously muted feelings start getting clearer, an indication that someone was waking up, and turned his attention to the chef, smile on his face.

"Thatch!" Luffy called cheerfully, making his way to the commander's bedside and getting everyone else's attention.

"M'hey Lu," Thatch mumbled, sitting up and blinking groggily. Ace, Sabo, and Marco all smiled, happy that Luffy had a distraction now. He hadn't spoken much today and was clearly under some stress over this whole making a wave thing, so for him to finally look happy made them happy as well.

"'Wa's goin' on here, hm?" Thatch asked, noticing the rest of their group, Marco sitting on the bed next to his.

"Ah, well, Luffy wants to make a wave and Marco volunteered so Whiskey wants to do a check-up before Luffy does anything," Sabo explained as briefly as possible, he and Ace already having to explain this multiple times today.

"Wait, what? I'm already being left out of the infamous adventures of the brothers?!" Thatch whined, eyes wide as he frowned. Ace scoffed and Sabo smiled while Luffy laughed cheerily.

"Only one adventure per customer." Ace said.

"But Marcos been in almost all of the adventures!" Thatch whined as he pointed to the commander accusingly.

"Isn't that just too bad for you Thatch," Marco asked in a bored tone.

"Besides, Marcos a special case. He's always just... there when things happen." Sabo said with a shrug, not quite sure how all of their so-called 'adventures' managed to have the first commander close by whenever they occurred.

"That's cause Marcos always worrying about us and stuff!" Luffy answered, still grinning widely from where he now sat on Thatch's bed.

"Always the worrywart." Ace said with a shake of his head, though he was smiling.

"Luffy, what have we said about telling others what we're feeling, yoi?" Marco asked with a sigh.

"Its an imitation of piracy!" Luffy recited but only made those around them laugh.

"No, its invasion of privacy." Marco corrected as automatically as Sabo normally does. After a year of being around the brothers, the pirates had all grown used to the brothers' habits and ticks, Luffy's inability to say certain words being one of them.

"Don't listen to him Luffy, you keep on telling us all about Marcos feelings whenever you want!" Thatch chirped happily, still trying to catch his breath after laughing too hard.

"And while you're at it, feel free to announce to everyone which of Thatch's stories are lies, yoi." Marco retorted, glaring at the chef who gawked.

"Wha-?! Wait, no, don't do that Lu! On second thought, emotions are private and no one should ever know which of my stories are lies!" Thatch said, quickly backtracking on his words, waving his hands back and forth frantically as he did.

"So you admit that some of your stories are lies then?" Sabo asked mischievously, Ace snickering beside him and Luffy still beaming happily as he listened to everyone speak around him.

"Well, uh, you know-... Never mind." Thatch said, visibly deflating and causing another round of laughter to erupt from Ace, Sabo, and Luffy while Marco watched, his own smile forming now.

"I'm back. Ready Commander Marco?" Whiskey asked, holding a folder in hand with papers inside. Marco nodded, and everyone remembered quickly why they were here, the mood turning serious once more as they focused on Whiskey and Marco.

Whiskey was quick with her check-up, and once she was happy with the results, she released Marco, giving her permission for he and Luffy to make a wave. As Marco stood and they all got ready to head back out onto the deck, Thatch gave him his well wishes and requested they give him a play by play once they were done.

Once they were back out on the deck, Whiskey in tow, they headed back down into the sunken area of the deck. Apparently, word had gotten around fairly quickly about what was going to happen because Sabo could hear their crew mates whispering to each other about it as they watched the group walk. How they had heard about the news already, Sabo had no idea. Whitebeard sat in his chair, indifferent to the chattering around him, and all of the commanders- sans Thatch- were nearby, interested in what was about to take place as well.

Finally, the group sat down, Marco in front of Whitebeard, his back to the Captain, and the brothers in front of Marco facing him and Whitebeard, while Whiskey stood close by, clipboard in hand as she watched Marco closely, ready for anything.

"So, how does this work, yoi?" Marco asked as he got comfortable on the deck, wanting to know what he should expect.

"Well, we're not quite sure how Luffy does it really, he just kind of imagines creating a bridge between the two of you." Sabo started explaining, watching Luffy from where he sat in between him and Ace.

"You'll get a headache, or at least, Sabo and I did. Hurt like a bitch." Ace continued, Marco nodding in understanding. Luffy continued taking in Marco's emotions, looking for even a hint of hesitance or regret to agreeing to this, but the Commander was as confident about this as he had been when agreeing. Luffy shifted, getting ready to begin, and it seemed everyone picked up on this as well because the deck went silent, anticipation heavy in the air.

Ace and Sabo watched, eyes darting between Luffy and Marco every few seconds, just waiting for something to go wrong.

Luffy sat completely still, eyes unblinking as he stared at Marco, allowing himself to see the color of the commander's soul clearly. It was still as bright a blue as it had been when they had first met him, not a hint of grey in it. Luffy's lips almost twitched into a smile at that, but he fought it off, focusing instead on the task before him.

He remembered exactly how this was supposed to work, how Haru had told him to bridge him and the other person together, remembered doing it over and over with the different children.

Again, he shook away the unwanted thoughts, once again refocusing his attention to Marco, to the bright blue soul in front of him. He began creating that bridge, imagined it slowly forming across the gap between him and Marco, stretching from his own chest and finally making contact with Marcos.

At this point, Luffy started feeling that Marco was in pain, the feeling filtering over to Luffy who was also keeping a close eye on the commander's emotions, still waiting for any regret, any sign that he didn't actually want to do this. The pain made him hesitate for a moment, but despite the fact that Luffy could feel that Marco was in pain, the first mate was doing a good job at hiding it from his expression. The only indication that he was even in any discomfort was the slight squint to his eyes.

Ace and Sabo seemed to pick up on Luffy's hesitance as they shifted uneasily beside him. They restrained from touching him though, not wanting to break his concentration and possibly mess something up. Taking a deep breath Luffy tried to ignore the pain he could feel coming from Marco, tried to ignore that this was the moment of truth, the moment where either a wave would be formed between Marco and Luffy, or Marco would possibly end up dying.

One last push and the bridge between Luffy and Marco formed completely, disappearing and leaving behind a bright blue wave. Luffy watched it a moment, practically waiting for it to disappear, for this whole thing to have not worked, but when it stayed, strong and steady, and Marcos pain started to dissipate, Luffy slowly began grinning until he was full-on beaming, joy in his eyes as he continued admiring the beautiful blue wave. He brought up Ace and Sabo's waves too now, looking at all three waves almost sprouting from his chest and guiding him to the souls they belonged to.

"I did it!" Luffy chirped happily, turning to look at Ace and then Sabo. The twos tension faded and they smiled back, pride and happiness rolling off of them.

"Good job Lu!" Ace praised as he ruffled the boy's hair, Sabo patting him on the back. Meanwhile, Whiskey went over to Marco, asking him a series of questions as she took his blood pressure again.

"What color is his wave?" Sabo asked out of curiosity. Luffy had told them both what color their waves were when they were first formed, so it interested him what color Marcos could be.

"It's blue, but not like the sky or the ocean, its brighter, like his flames!" Luffy said, head tilting as he tried explaining the color to his brothers. The ones close enough to hear Luffy listened as well, trying to imagine the color.

"Well, it seems everything's alright. Commander Marco is as healthy as ever." Whiskey announced as she put down her stethoscope.

"Really?! Come on Marco, we have to tell Thatch!" Luffy said excitedly, grin blossoming on his face as he jumped up and ran over to Marco. He pulled the first commander off the ground and immediately started dragging him towards the infirmary. Ace and Sabo both sat back and watched, laughing as Marco rolled his eyes, a slight look of exasperation on his face.

"And he thought Luffy was a handful before. Now that he has a wave with him he'll be that much more overbearing." Ace laughed, Sabo nodding his agreement.

"Even if it's just a little fade, Luffy'll be on him instantly," Sabo said, referring to how worried Luffy could get about Ace or Sabo whenever their waves got even a hint lighter than normal.

"Note to self, don't get a wave with Luffy," Jozu said from where he and the other commanders were standing, listening to Ace and Sabo talk.

Ace and Sabo grinned to him while Whitebeards laugh boomed across the deck for all to hear.


	89. Training for the Future

A week passed after Luffy made a wave with Marco and as expected, the youngest almost always had the wave in his vision, monitoring it for even a flicker of transparency. Being a constantly healing Phoenix, Luffy didn't know if Marcos wave could even get transparent, but in the slow week that passed, he hadn't seen it happen once which relieved him immensely.

Ace and Sabo thought that Marco was lucky they hadn't had to do any fighting this week.

Thatch, after being forced to stay in the infirmary the entire time, was finally given the ok to leave, although Whiskey was sure to explain exactly how mad she would be with the chef should he go against her strict regimen. Thatch wasn't allowed to do any heavy lifting, wasn't allowed to do any strenuous work and had to take breaks throughout the day to make sure he didn't overwork himself. The chef had been against it at first, but after finding out that it was either do that or stay in the infirmary, he gladly agreed to the conditions.

Now that he was finally out Thatch was going around and celebrating with anyone unlucky enough to be caught by him.

"Travis, have a drink with me!"

"Thatch, it's nine in the morning. Besides, didn't Whiskey tell you no drinking?"

"Bah! What Whiskey doesn't know won't hurt her!"

Sabo snickered quietly to himself from where he sat listening on the railing. Ace was off doing some paperwork he'd neglected to do ever since Thatch had been hurt and Luffy was off bouncing around with a few others from the second division.

Overall, things were slowly returning back to normal. One by one, they all got better, and even though what had happened with Teach had been traumatizing and had brought up plenty of bad memories for the brothers, that was something they would talk with Whiskey about during their sessions and eventually, that trauma will be a distant memory. It'll be more manageable. Won't hurt as much to think about. They won't remember it as the day Thatch nearly died, the day the darkness was so bad Luffy was almost always in a state of panic, the day they nearly let Teach kill one of their brothers. No, instead, it'll be a day they remember Thatch survived, and a day they remember how strong Luffy was to put up with a darkness so intense it encompassed Whitebeards warmth, a day they stopped Teach from doing something unthinkable.

But it would take time for them to believe these thoughts like it has with the facility. They still had sessions with Whiskey weekly, no longer so scared of her that they had to sit out on the deck. They'd begun having them with her in her office, and the day that had happened had been a huge improvement, showed just how far they'd progressed in their healing.

'Ne, Sabo?' The blonde was pulled from his musings as he heard the familiar tapping coming from the brothers' room where Ace was.

'You think you could go tell Whiskey that I need to postpone my session until tomorrow? I don't think I'll get this paperwork done until late.' Ace said making Sabo sigh, shaking his head as he jumped off the railing.

Of course, if his brother had done the paperwork when he'd first got back like he was supposed to, he wouldn't have had to worry about missing his session, but there was no point worrying about that now.

Luffy caught a glimpse of Sabo as he left the deck, heading towards the infirmary. He shrugged, deciding he'd ask what he was doing later and turned back to the group he was with, a handful of cards in his hands as he returned to the task at hand.

"Got any 3's?" He asked one of the men sitting in their circle. There was a familiar uproar of laughter that made Luffy laugh, even if the laughter was because of him.

"How many times we gotta tell you we're playing Cheat and not Go Fish?" Reiner asked.

"Yeah, and how did you end up with so many cards anyway?" Perry questioned with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the stack of cards in Luffy's hands. The boy pouted, deflating.

"Cause you guys cheated!" He said, unceremoniously grabbing more cards from the pile in the middle, causing another round of laughter.

"Who wants to explain to him that you don't pick up in this game?" Devan stage whispered to the others.

"Hey Luffy, you done with your turn?" Reiner asked, to which the boy nodded, still pouting a little.

The game continued on, Luffy still oblivious as to how to really play despite how many times his division members explained it to him. He had a fun time regardless, and when the lunch bell started going off he only then began to realize how much time had passed.

He jumped up happily before bolting off to the galley, barreling through anyone still new enough to the crew to not know to get out of the hyperactive boy's way. All the amazing smells wafted to his nose and made his mouth water. In seconds he was in the line for food, piling his plate high enough that it threatened to fall over.

"Why don't you go take that plate to the table, Luffy? You know you can always come and get more, yoi." Marco said as he walked up behind the teen. Luffy pouted, seeing some meat he really wanted to add to his plate, but nodded and left anyways, balancing the food tower expertly, not a single crumb falling.

Sabo was the next of the trio to arrive, filling up a large quantity of food and leaving which confused a few who had noticed, but Luffy, who felt the confusion, explained.

"Sabo says Ace is a probashing idiot so he's bringing him his food." He said in between mouthfuls of food, having watched as Sabo tapped against the plate he had been filling. Luffy noticed that the commanders' confusion only grew at his words, which confused him in turn.

"Luffy, did you mean procrastinating?" Izo asked, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to find the word Luffy might have meant to say. Understanding dawned on Luffy's face and he smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, that!" He said before returning to his food, noting that the confusion in the commanders was quick to leave now that they knew the correct wording.

"At least someones looking out for that fire brained kid." Fossa said with a bark of laughter once he was over the confusion. Many nods of agreement were shared amongst the commanders and conversation was quick to sprout as they all started eating their own food. Luffy joined in cheerily, in a much better mood lately now that all the stress of Teach and Thatch being hurt was gone. He also had a new wave to look at, still in awe at how pretty and vibrant the color was.

Sabo returned shortly after, filling a plate of his own, and by then Luffy was onto his thirds.

"Still want to train after lunch Luffy?" Sabo asked, the youngest having nearly forgotten.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed, mouth full of food and impeding his speech. Sabo chuckled.

"Alright, now slow down, you look like you're about to choke," Sabo said with a raised eyebrow, watching as Luffy swallowed his entire mouthful of food, a visible lump passing down his throat and making some of the commanders cringe.

"Ace won't be joining so its only me, but that should be alright, we'll just be focusing on one emotion," Sabo said as he began eating now.

Another thing they'd taken to practicing during their year with the Whitebeards was Luffy tolerance to different emotions. It became problematic sometimes if pirates who started feeling anger suddenly influenced Luffy, or when Luffy would get so happy he would nearly catapult himself off the ship, so as a way to counterbalance this, they began training him

Luffy would go with someone, Ace, Sabo, Marco, Whitebeard, anyone good at controlling their emotions, and they would attempt projecting small feelings at the boy. Luffy would then do his best to avoid letting the emotion influence him, no matter how strong. Over the year of practice, it had already shown positive improvement and the young teen was able to resist letting emotions take him over easier than ever before.

With the excitement over wanting to train, Luffy finished his meal faster than ever, but that just meant he had to impatiently wait until Sabo was done as well so they could leave.

"You done yet Sabo?" Luffy asked as he waited, though even calling it waiting was stretching it. The teen was swinging his feet rapidly and he was squirming so much he looked like a snake. Sabo rolled his eyes as he continued eating, making sure he wasn't eating any faster than usual.

"Nope. Probably won't be for some time." Sabo said nonchalantly, an indifference in his words as he spoke them. Luffy whined at that which made Sabo smile, finding it funny how impatient his brother could be sometimes. The commanders around them were finding it amusing as well, a few trying to hold in their laughter as they watched Luffy begin to tug on Sabo's sleeve.

"But Sabo~ I'm bored! I wanna train now~!" Luffy whined, tugging the sleeve as he spoke in an attempt to hurry the blonde. Sabo, however, didn't let this have an impact, still being mindful to keep his movements slow, purposely messing with Luffy, knowing how impatient his little brother could be.

The other commanders found this funny, having easily caught on to Sabo's tactics, and watched as Luffy got more and more desperate to leave the room, wanting to train as soon as possible. Eventually, Sabo stopped teasing, finishing his food and standing with a now very ecstatic Luffy. Sabo said his farewells to the commanders while Luffy bounced off to the galley doors, calling for his brother to hurry up, to which Sabo rolled his eyes.

Once out on deck Sabo and Luffy headed to the upper deck and seeing as many were still eating in the galley the spot was relatively empty. Of course, nowhere on the Moby was ever completely devoid of people, there were so many members onboard the ship that you'd be hard-pressed to find a room with no one in it, so a couple of people opposed to a big group was as empty as it was going to get.

"Alright, you're still having trouble with happiness so why don't we focus on that emotion for now?" Sabo asked as he and Luffy sat cross-legged across from each other. Out of all the emotions, Luffy was most easily overwhelmed by happiness. This was mostly due to the fact that he enjoyed letting the feeling in the most, sans the warm feeling, but that only made it all the more reason to grow his tolerance for the emotion.

"Mm!" Luffy agreed, settling and taking deep breaths. Sabo began thinking of all his happiest memories, allowing the emotion to bubble up in his chest, and he could already see that it was having an effect on his brother if the smile was anything to go on. Luffy was able to quell the emotions from overwhelming him though, refocusing his attention on his breathing and thoughts rather than the nice emotions he could feel coming from his blonde brother.

Sabo smiled as he watched Luffy take deep breaths, his brother's smile leaving as his face returned into a neutral state. The blonde began ramping up his feelings, allowing himself to feel more and more of the happiness he was creating.

This continued on, Sabo amping up the emotion he was exuding, and Luffy doing his best to not give in to the temptation of letting in the feelings and instead taking deep breaths. An hour passed and once it had, Sabo could see a familiar figure heading their way. Luffy was too focused on keeping out the happiness that he didn't notice, until suddenly a bout of anger surprised him, the emotion flooding him instantly and taking over him.

"Ace! What are you doing?!" Luffy shouted angrily at his brother who stood behind him, smirking.

"Too easy Luffy, maybe next time." Ace said as he ruffled Luffy's hair. This caused the youngest to pout, but the anger melted away now that he knew he had been influenced. Ace sat beside Sabo on the deck floor, Luffy settling back down as well as he faced them.

"We'll have to work on that some more too. If you get too focused blocking out one emotion it becomes way too easy for you to become influenced by another." Sabo said with a smile, noticing that Ace still seemed extremely satisfied with himself for catching their brother off guard.

"Did you finish your reports?" Sabo asked. The smirk left Aces face at the reminder and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah. It was a pain in the ass too." He muttered, looking away as he did. Sabo and Luffy snickered now which made Ace pout in turn.

"Maybe one of these times you'll learn not to procrastinate like always." The blonde replied, but all of them knew that the same thing would happen next time. Ace had been a commander for a year now, and each and every time it came time for him to write up a report on something he always put it off until the last second.

He was practically asking for Marco to give him a lecture about how he couldn't shirk his Commander responsibilities.

"It's not my fault. Whenever I get back everyone's always doing all this cool stuff. Besides, I do my best work under pressure." Ace said with a shrug. Sabo rolled his eyes at that answer.

"Yeah, sure. I'll believe that when I stop hearing Marco complain about your rushed reports." Sabo said, making Ace glare at him, but they both knew it was true. More than once, Sabo had accidentally overheard Marco ranting to himself as he read over Aces reports, all of them having been procrastinated and rushed.

"Stop listening in." Ace retorted, though it was a weak retort. Sabo scoffed.

"Stop seeing so far away." He responded. Both brothers knew they had no control over their senses, hence why there was no heat to their words. It was said more with endearment then it was with any actual anger or expectancy for them to really do anything about their enhanced senses.

"Anyway, now that you're here you can help with Luffy's training. We can work on battling more than one emotion this way." Sabo said, the two turning their attention back to Luffy who had been watching them the entire time, not saying anything. Now that they were about to start training again though, Luffy brightened up, sitting up straighter and nodding happily in anticipation.

It wasn't often he got to train with two people at once. Everyone was usually busy, so this would be good for him.

"How about Ace and I both focus on happiness at first, and at random intervals, Ace can focus on anger instead. That way you don't know when it will happen and you'll gain experience on how to better handle sudden spikes in emotions." Sabo suggested. Ace and Luffy both agreed, and with that, training resumed.

It was more difficult now that Ace was there as well, and Luffy had a hard time keeping himself from being influenced by the sudden anger from his older brother, but that was why they were training now, so he could get better at it now. This way, if this happened on an island, he wouldn't be caught off guard by someone having a sudden spike in their emotions.

That didn't mean it made it any easier though, and when another anger spike from Ace influenced him as well, he wasn't able to calm himself down in time to stop the explosion.

"This is stupid! And so what if I want to let in the happy feelings?! They're nice!" Luffy shouted almost defensively. Ace and Sabo, both knowing that he was only being influenced, let him shout. They got some looks from passing crew members and those close enough to hear their brothers outburst, but none of them paid them any mind. It was routine by now for the crew to hear Luffy have an outburst due to being influenced. It had happened many times now over the year, whether it was because someone got angry stubbing their toe, or someone was angry that the food they had Thatch save for them had been eaten by another crew member. It was inevitable there would be anger, and when there was, Luffy was, nine times out of ten, influenced by it. To see him having another outburst was nothing new to the crew, and once they saw what was happening and realized what must have happened, they left the brothers to deal with it like always.

Once Luffy calmed down from his shouting, Ace spoke up, smiling a bit as he tried not to laugh at yet another of his brother's outbursts from this training session.

"Why don't we take a break? We've been at it an hour now, and you two were training even before that." Ace said, stretching his arms above his head as he spoke. Sabo nodded in agreement while Luffy pouted. Even though he had just shouted that he thought this was stupid, he hadn't meant it. He loved training, getting stronger, and he had only shouted that because the anger had suddenly overcome him and made him vent his frustrations without any filter. He knew his brothers didn't take anything he said during his outbursts seriously, which was good, because he didn't mean what he said most of the time.

"That's a good idea, I'm getting sore sitting here this long," Sabo said with a frown, rubbing his back as he did.

"You're getting old." Ace teased.

"Ace, you're older than me. Calling me old is calling yourself older." Sabo said, rolling his eyes as he stood. The oldest of the trio blinked, thinking over the blonde's words for a second as he stood as well.

"Nah, I think you're aging faster. You'll be an old man when you're 20." Ace said with a smirk. Luffy looked at Sabo in awe, taking his brother's words as fact rather than the teasing that it was.

"What?! Really?! Sabo, how are you doing that?!" He asked, walking circles around his brother as he examined him as if expecting to see something on him that would explain his speedy aging that Ace claimed he had.

"Luffy, Ace is joking, you should know that," Sabo said, rubbing his temple in exasperation. Even though Luffy could literally feel that Ace was joking, he still believed him.

"Oh yeah. I forgot." Luffy said, stopping his examination of Sabo as he blinked slowly, taking in the fact that he had felt that Ace was joking. He had been so caught up in the idea that Sabo might actually be aging faster that he hadn't even taken into account his brother's feelings.

Sabo sighed yet again. Maybe he _was_ aging faster. If that was the case, it was definitely because of his two idiotic brothers.

"That's it, I need a break from you two," Sabo said, walking off as he spoke and plugging his ears to avoid hearing anything else from the two. Ace and Luffy shared a look before watching the blonde walk off, ears still plugged.

"Ne, Ace, you wanna put glue in Sabo's boots?"

"And hide his socks?"

"Shishishi, let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> I've got news everyone. Sad news.
> 
> This chapter was a transition chapter. The next chapter will be- Brace yourselves- the final arc.
> 
> I know, I know. Lets all take a moment to let that sink in. Next chapter will be the 90th chapter, as well as the beginning of the end of this story. Don't worry though, I have a sequel planned which I will be talking more about at the actual end of this story, so it's not truly over, but this section of the brothers' lives will soon be coming to a close. I'll get into all the sappiness of ending a story when this story actually ends, but I thought you all should know how close we were getting.
> 
> Anyways, in lighter news, the brothers are much happier and healthier- physically and mentally- then they were in the beginning. They've come a long way and have worked hard to be where they're at right now. The next arc is something I've been building up to and hinting at for what seems to be forever now and I'm excited for you all to see whats in store! I can't really give any hints without giving the entire thing away so your all just going to have to wait and see.


	90. The New Island

As Ace crossed the deck he noticed out of the corner of his eye a familiar speck on the horizon, one that signaled they were nearing an island. Being apart of the crew, the brothers now had a better idea of when they were going to be reaching new islands, and because of this Ace knew that this island was the one they were supposed to reach in another three days, however from the looks of it it was only another day, maybe two, away.

Changing course from the infirmary to Whitebeard, he told his father figure as much, to which he was thanked and told to go inform the navigators about this new development.

Word spread fast that they were on course to reach the next island earlier than expected and with the news came excitement. The time passed quickly with everyone in high spirits. Luffy was ecstatic during this time, both because they were reaching an island soon, and because he allowed himself to let in all the happy feelings, making the day and a half that it took to reach the island pass by in a flash.

The Moby slowly made its way as close to the island as it could before it had to stop They were still a short boat ride away from actually docking, but due to the shallow waters surrounding the island, this was as close as the giant ship could get. Because of this, the groups being sent to the island had to be done strategically, only those who would be restocking the necessities could go first due to the limited number of boats they had to ferry them all along. The chefs in Thatch's division were given priority, then those in Marcos division who would be restocking supplies for the infirmary, followed by Fossa's division which would restock supplies needed to repair the Moby, and then Rakuyo and Vistas divisions which were in charge of restocking the weapon supply, and so on and so forth.

Aces division wasn't needed in the restocking this time, and because of that, they weren't high up on the list of those getting to go to the island. However, Ace did have his own private boat that could only be run by his devil fruit, thus he and his brothers were able to go whenever they wanted. Of course, Marco knew about this seeing as they had gone and used the Striker to leave the Moby and head to islands in the past, so he was quick to find them before they could sneak off.

"I already know what you three are up to, yoi," Marco said, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as he blocked the trio from sneaking off below deck to where the boats were at, namely the Striker.

"What? I have no clue what you're talking about." Ace said, whistling and looking away while Sabo smiled cheerfully to Marco and Luffy looked anywhere but at the commander who he knew could read his face and know if he was lying or not.

"Yeah, right. Anyways, I'm not saying you can't go, you have your own boat after all, yoi. I just wanted to ask you three to watch the group being sent from Blenheim's division for him. He has to stay here and fix some boards for Fossa while he gets more supplies so he can't do it, and seeing as you three are going to be there at the same time as those restocking, you're up, yoi." Marco explained.

"Aw, but I wanted to explore the forest! Its _huge!_ " Luffy whined but knew he would agree to keep an eye on the group. They were apart of the crew after all- ship brothers- so of course they would keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed safe. He knew Ace and Sabo felt the same way.

He was just a bit disappointed in their change of plans. The forest was big, and it looked like it had some really tall trees, maybe some tall enough to see the entire island from.

"We'll be here tomorrow too, yoi. You can go explore it then." Marco said with a smile as he watched Luffy pout. This seemed to appease the youngest who nodded, smiling again, and Ace and Sabo nodded as well.

"Sure, we can keep an eye on them, but tomorrow you cant make us do anything else! We have to go exploring in that forest before we go!" Ace demanded, pointing a finger at Marco as he said this, knowing that if he didn't clarify the Commander might make them do something else tomorrow as well.

"Alright, alright, I won't get in your way. You don't have to worry about me, yoi," Marco said, hands raised in the air as he spoke, though he was still smiling. Luffy and Sabo laughed at the display and Ace smiled as well, eyes narrowed.

"Ok Ace, the supply groups are heading out now, that means we should go too. We haven't even had the chance to get Striker ready yet." Sabo said, knowing that it took them a few minutes to get the yellow boat prepared to sail.

"Ah, that's right! Marco, you're wasting our time!" Ace shouted as he ran passed the Commander and down into the Moby. Sabo rolled his eyes and shouted a goodbye to the Commander as he followed after Ace and Luffy did the same, eyes wide at the prospect that they were wasting precious seconds talking to Marco.

The brothers made their way to the Striker and got the small one-man boat ready with practiced ease. Ace stood in the boat, ready to power it up, and Luffy climbed on top of the sail while Sabo sat against the small mast, keeping a close eye on Luffy should he fall off. Once they were ready, Ace maneuvered the raft out of the dock on the Moby and out onto the open waters, heading right towards the boat carrying Blenheim's division members.

When they were close enough to speak to them, the division called out some greetings, the brothers returning them in kind as they made their way to the island.

"We're going to go and dock first, check everything out for you," Sabo called over, knowing Aces smaller, fire powered raft would be able to reach the island much faster than the rowboats the divisions were using.

"Sounds good! We should dock in about ten to fifteen minutes!" One of the members, Frederick, called back. Sabo nodded in understanding to him before giving Ace the signal that he could speed up. Luffy cheered as the wind blew in his face, the Striker zooming quickly across the waters. They were heading to an empty beach to dock- at least, that's what Ace had said. They wanted to avoid troubling the townspeople seeing as this wasn't an island under Whitebeards protection, and it also wasn't one they had visited much at all. It was relatively unknown how the people on this island would react to the pirates, so when Ace informed them that there was what seemed to be an empty, abandoned beach, Whitebeard had decided that would be the place the resupply groups would dock at.

The Striker reached the beach within a couple of minutes, and the second it was possible, Luffy was jumping off the sail and wading through the ankle-deep water, leaving Ace and Sabo to beach the Striker themselves.

"No running off Lu, we're scouting ahead for the resupply divisions, remember? Explore tomorrow, scout today." Ace called to Luffy as he and Sabo watched him reach the beach. Luffy stopped and pouted again, but nodded, abandoning his previous idea of running off into the forest and instead using his sense of smell and ability to feel emotions to his advantage.

"No one's been around here recently, and I can't feel anyone either," Luffy announced as Ace and Sabo reached him, Striker in tow. Ace made sure the ship was high enough on land that the water wouldn't reach it anytime soon before glancing around their surroundings.

"I don't see anyone around either, just trees," Ace added, looking into the forest that lined the beach.

"And I don't hear anyone. Seems this was a good place to dock after all." Sabo continued as he stretched out his hearing, only hearing the animals running around the trees.

"I saw the town on the west side of the island, so we should head that way once everyone else gets here. There aren't any paths that I can see so people might get lost on the way back." Ace said, making Sabo frown.

"We could mark the trees as we go, that way they don't get lost. We could set a time limit too and if no ones back by at the designated time we can send Luffy to go find them." Sabo suggested, Luffy nodding cheerfully at that idea. Ace shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. Come on, let's go check out some of the forest. Make sure there're no traps around that anyone'll accidentally stumble onto." Ace said. Luffy once again cheered at the prospect of getting to explore, even if it was only a small section of the large forest. The young teen bounced after his older brother, and Sabo checked one more time that the Striker was alright before following as well.

Luffy was quick to grab onto a tree branch and fling himself into the canopy of the trees, swinging like the monkey his name proclaimed him to be as he scanned the ground for any traps. Ace stuck to the lower branches of the trees, using the height he had to scan even further into the forest, and Sabo followed on the ground, marking the trees as they passed them.

They didn't head too far in, they wanted to be there when the supply groups docked, so once they determined it was safe enough, they headed back.

They made it back to the beach just in time to see the groups all getting out of their boats and dragging them onto the sandy ground, placing them near the Striker as they did. Fossa, Izo, and Vista were among the groups, all of them sent to watch over the divisions just as Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had been.

Sabo went over and gave a recap of the plan to the three commanders, all of them agreeing it was a good idea, while Ace and Luffy helped bring the boats out of the water and onto land.

"I already started marking trees and Luffy and Ace scouted a little ways ahead for any traps the town could have set. So far there's nothing, but we didn't get too far. Ace saw the town off to the west side of the island so we headed that way." Sabo informed.

"Good work, that'll make this faster for us then. Alright everyone, get into your groups!" Fossa called out once all the boats were safe from being washed away.

"We'll be heading through the forest, keep an eye out for any traps that might be set. We're going to mark trees as we go, that way we don't get lost coming back." Vista explained, everyone nodding in understanding.

"We're meeting back here by sundown. Anyone not back by then, we're sending Luffy to find." Fossa added, getting more nods in return.

"Alright, lets head out. You all know what you're assigned to get. Ace, Vista, Fossa, Sabo, Luffy and I will be keeping an eye on everyone. Any questions or concerns that you have, ask one of us about it." Izo said. With that, the group of pirates all headed off, Luffy and Ace in the trees again, scouting ahead for traps, while Sabo stayed on the ground, marking trees with the other commanders.

It was a bit of a hike, but about fifteen minutes in, Sabo heard Luffy alerting Ace to a bear trap that he saw ahead of them. Sabo said as much to the group, and they all slowed down, looking around more carefully. A few minutes later, they walked up on Ace and Luffy moving a now disarmed trap out of their way.

"We're getting pretty close to the town now, I can see it from the lower branches." Ace said as Luffy flung himself back up into the trees. With that, the groups resumed their trek, being careful to watch where they stepped.

Another five minutes later, they finally reached the town. Groups were divided up depending on who needed to get what, and commanders were assigned to those groups. The trio of brothers were assigned to Blenheim's division as expected, but they were also told to keep an eye on a few from Rakuyo's group as well seeing as they would be restocking in the same section of town as Blenheim's. The brothers agreed, and with that, the groups split up into the town.

To keep the townspeople from panicking, the groups were small, only two to three people each, so when the group of, now, nine walked out from the forest they were given some looks. This was understandable, of course, but as expected, they weren't given much more attention than that, the town returning back to its usual tasks.

Blenheim's group was assigned to getting some more tools for the shipwrights, while Rakuyo's division was sent to get more weapons. The brothers followed the two groups, chatting with them as they went.

A year on the Whitebeards ship meant that they were friends with most everyone on the Moby. Sure there were times that you saw someone you'd never seen before, but that was only because the ship was so big and there were so many people that sometimes you never ran into certain people for months. Word got around about the brothers pretty quickly though, about how they all had abilities that were unlike any others, like Sabo's insane hearing, or how Ace and Luffy could both swim despite the fact that they were both devil fruit users. Gossip about them spread fast, and when the brothers did nothing to stop it, it only continued to grow.

Of course, with these abilities of there's, people wanted to know how they got them. The trio wasn't going to tell them about the facility, so instead the rest of the crew was left to make up their own wild ideas on how the brothers could have stumbled upon these abilities. Some theories were as tame as the brothers being born with the abilities, but some got more crazy, such as the brothers having saved a genie and being granted wishes as a result.

As they all walked through the town, the question of their abilities came up again. None of them minded, they liked hearing the theories, so they allowed it.

"You guys totally saved a fairy and they gave you your abilities, right?"

"No way, they met someone with a devil fruit that gave them those powers!"

"Nu-uh, what kind of devil fruit could do that? I think they prayed to the Gods and were granted their abilities that way."

"I don't even think they're religious..."

The trio snickered to themselves as they listened in on the arguing groups. It was one of their favorite pastimes to listen to the wild imaginations of the crew.

"Sabo, Luffy, Commander Ace, are you guys religious or not?" Frederick asked, the theorizing having devolved into a small argument on whether the brothers were religious or not.

"Not particularly, no," Sabo answered through his snickers.

"See, told you! No way it was God!"

"Just because you're not religious doesn't mean God couldn't have done it!"

"What if they drank some magic water?"

"How many times have you heard about someone drinking magic water?"

"How many times have you heard about people getting extraordinary abilities?"

"... Good point."

"Alright, alright, as much fun as it is to listen to your guys' speculations, I'm pretty sure that store is where you three need to be, correct?" Sabo asked Rakuyo's group, pointing to a weapons shop. The three in the group blinked, before realizing Sabo was right and headed in, saying farewells as Blenheim's group continued walking.

"I'll stay here with them, you two watch those three." Ace said to Sabo and Luffy, nodding his head to Blenheim's group that was once again back to debating scenarios where the brothers got their abilities.

"Sure. If you need anything just say so." Sabo said as he and Luffy turned to walk with the group.

"Whatever mom." Ace teased, heading into the weapons shop. Luffy laughed at Aces words while Sabo glared at his brothers back, but ignored it none-the-less.

"That's not at all how it happened!"

"Oh, so you were there then?"

"Well, no, but that was just stupid! In what world did those three find a magical rock that they had to take on top of a mountain where they saw a dragon who gave them powers?"

"That one is a bit far fetched Pat."

"Oh, and your idea of them being bitten by a poisonous spider that gave them powers was better?"

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Ne, Commander Ace, tell us, have any of us been close to figuring out how you guys got your powers?" Fitz asked while the group waited for the store owner to get the supplies they needed from the back.

"Hm... yeah, actually. I overheard someone who got pretty close to what happened." Ace said, remembering someone who suggested the brothers had been experimented on and that's how they got their powers.

That theory had definitely hit a little too close to home.

"What?! Really?! Who was it? What was the theory?" Gary asked, eyes wide as he leaned forward in anticipation, hoping Ace would tell them. The other two looked just as eager to know which made Ace smile mischievously.

"Who was it? Ah, I think it was Kelvin... no, maybe it was- or wait, I think it was during a party so it was probably Rey. No, no! They were drunk so it had to have been Barry! But they could actually talk when they were drunk so maybe it wasn't him after all..." Ace said, acting as if he couldn't remember. It was obvious to the three watching him that this was the case, all three of them pouting.

"Aw, come on Commander, what's the big deal? Tell us!" Fitz whined. Ace laughed, shaking his head.

"Nah, it's fun to watch everyone get so worked up over it." Ace said instead, only getting groans in response from the guys.

"Here you go, I think this is everything!" The shop owner announced as he returned from the back, boxes in hand. Attention drawn away from Ace the three began grabbing the boxes, still pouting slightly as they did.

"Can you at least tell us if any of us were close?"

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"This town is big!" Luffy chirped as they walked down another side street in an attempt to get to the necessary store sooner.

"Sure is. I can't even see the ocean from here." Gerald said, standing on his tiptoes and shielding his eyes from the sun in an attempt to see any glimpse of the water.

"That's mostly due to the fact that there are too many shops and houses in the way," Sabo said, patting him on the back as they walked. Gerald shrugged.

"Big is big. My home island, you could see the ocean no matter where you were in the village." He said.

"You also lived in a village with three homes for twenty people and two shops." Webber retorted.

"We're not all big city folk like you Webber." Gerald scoffed. Luffy listened as the two bantered back and forth, not feeling any malice from either of them as they spoke. The two were light-heartedly joking with each other, even if it seemed like they were arguing from an outsider's perspective.

"Well my town was pretty big, but we could still see the ocean too." Jack piped up.

"Ha! See!" Gerald said, pointing to Jack triumphantly.

"Ne, Sabo, how big do you think the tallest tree in that forest is? Do you think I could see the whole island if I climbed it?" Luffy asked, ignoring the conversation his ship brothers were having. Sabo smiled to the youngest, shrugging.

"Who knows. I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow though." Sabo said.

"Yeah! I'm gonna find the biggest tree, climb it, and then I'll be able to see the whole thing! Like Ace!" Luffy said determinedly. Sabo laughed while Luffy smiled brightly, excitement bubbling up in him at the prospect of exploring and adventure, even if it would have to wait until tomorrow.

Finally, they reached the necessary shop and they all filed in. The group was quick with practiced ease as they ordered all the supplies they would need. Conversation was had, and soon enough they had everything they needed. Sabo could hear that Ace's group was done, telling the others as much, and with that, they all began to head back towards the boats, Sabo telling them that that's what Ace's group was doing.

The walk back through the town was quiet, everyone focusing on what they were carrying. The sky was beginning to change colors as time passed, indicating it was going to be sundown soon. They had docked here a little after lunch, and docking and walking to the town had taken quite a while, so to see that it was going to be dark soon wasn't a surprise.

They reunited with Ace's group just on the outskirts of town, and Sabo could hear that Vista's group was already ahead of them in the forest. Izo and Fossa's groups were still in town but sounded like they would be finishing up soon so they all decided to head back to the boats and wait for them there.

Now that they were carrying boxes, Luffy couldn't climb through the trees which made him antsy, wanting to let loose after all the stress of the past few weeks and being cooped up on the Moby for so long. Noticing as much, Ace took Luffys box from him seeing as he wasn't holding anything and told Luffy he could go on ahead so long as he didn't go any further into the forest then they already had.

The last thing they needed was Luffy getting too carried away with exploring and getting lost. Sure, with their enhanced senses it wouldn't be too much trouble to find him, but it would waste a lot of time. Besides, they would be exploring tomorrow anyways.

Luffy cheered before disappearing into the canopy of trees, everyone watching him with smiles.

"You'd think he's never been outside before," Sabo said with a sigh, shaking his head after Luffy was no longer visible to him. Ace scoffed at that but nodded in agreement.

"He gets way too antsy sometimes. Has way too much energy." He said.

"To be fair, you two can have just as much energy," Fitz said, the others nodding in agreement to his words.

"No, we sometimes have a similar amount of energy as Lu, but he's a class all of his own. He could run twenty laps around this whole island without getting tired and still be excited to do more. We have a limit to how much energy we have. Luffy, however, seems to have an unlimited amount." Sabo explained. After all, it was true. Luffy was an enigma, one that you could never quite figure out. He and Ace still had trouble understanding their crazy little brother sometimes.

"Fair point. Hey, do you think the God that gave you guys your abilities gave Luffy limitless energy too while he was at it?" Ace and Sabo laughed at the mention of the newest theory while the others groaned.

"That's not how it happened! They're not religious!"

"You never know! Gods can work in mysterious ways, like granting strange abilities to non-believers!"

"Are _you_ even religious?!"

"No, but why does that matter right now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> I wanted to have a moment where the brothers interacted with the Whitebeard pirates without the Commanders or Whitebeard himself. We always see Commanders and Whitebeard because they're named, memorable characters, but there's more to the Whitebeards than that. I've mentioned the rest of the crew in passing, but I haven't really had scenes where they're involved all that much. Plus, I wanted to show that even though the crew accepts the brothers, powers and all, they're still curious about how they got their abilities.
> 
> Other than that, there wasn't much else I wanted to say about this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it though and coming up with the different scenarios in which the brothers could have gotten their powers.


	91. An Island's Secrets

The next day Ace and Sabo found it extremely hard to keep Luffy from running off to the island first thing. As much as they all wanted to go to the island, they still had to eat breakfast. Not to mention, check-in with Whitebeard to see who was being assigned what today. Marco had promised they would be free to go exploring today, but sometimes it was inevitable that they had to be pulled in to do something, whether they had plans to explore or not.

Breakfast seemed to drag on for Luffy who was a bundle of excited energy. He ate quickly, finishing his many plates within minutes, but even then he knew he still had to wait. Ace still had a couple more plates to go and Sabo had barely finished his first plate.

It was practically excruciating for the boy to sit at the table, just waiting to go explore the awesome looking forest on the island.

The Commanders and Whitebeard watched with knowing smiles, all of them waiting for the moment that Luffy's patience would give out and the young teen would rocket himself over to the island, regardless of the procedure they had on the Moby.

Ace and Sabo, however, didn't want to let that happen and were instead focusing just as much attention on eating as they were to keeping Luffy in his seat, one of them grabbing the youngest's hands every time he attempted to bolt off and out of the galley. As funny as it would be, it would also mean that they would lose Luffy to the forest of the island and it would be much too difficult to find him, even with their enhanced senses.

Eventually, everyone finished and the crew gathered out on the deck, waiting to hear what Whitebeard would say.

Luffy, of course, was bouncing where he stood in between Ace and Sabo, waiting for the second Whitebeard stopped talking to run off to the Striker. Even if he couldn't power the boat himself he was sure he'd be able to figure something out if he was desperate enough.

Whitebeard announced that they had everything they needed and that today was a day of relaxation, anyone welcome to go to the island if they wanted. When he finished speaking Luffy cheered, grabbing Ace and Sabo's hands and dragging them towards the stairs to head toward the Striker.

"Ne, Luffy," Marco called, stopping them from progressing and causing Luffy to groan.

"Marco, you _promised!_ " Luffy whined as he turned to look at the first commander. The man was smiling and Luffy could feel the amusement coming from him, telling the teen that he was finding something funny.

"You're right, I was just going to say have fun. And be safe, yoi. No getting into trouble." Marco said, sternly at the end, though still light-heartedly. Luffy blinked while Ace and Sabo laughed, and then the youngest beamed, nodding.

"Mm! Tell Thatch to make a _big_ dinner for when we get back!" Luffy called as he began dragging Ace and Sabo once again, not even waiting for a response. Once they were below deck it didn't take too long for the three to prepare the Striker and be on their way.

Like yesterday they beached the Striker, though this time they did it much closer to the trees then they had yesterday. They planned on spending a lot more time here today- the whole day most likely- so they didn't want to take any chances in losing the Striker.

Once that was done, they were off, the three of them charging off into the forest. While those on the Moby who were coming to visit the island were only just leaving, the brothers were already beginning their adventure in the giant expanse of forest.

Luffy, of course, was adamant about finding the tallest tree. In the journey to find said tree, however, he was content to run around and explore with Ace and Sabo.

Most of the island was trees- the town to the west being the only other thing they'd seen so far. The forest was dense and even Ace had difficulty seeing much further ahead than where they were already standing. Everywhere he looked his vision was blocked by another tree, but that didn't deter them. If anything, it made them all that much more excited to explore the unknown forest.

Luffy managed to scramble his way up to the top of his current tree, and once he had he had a better vantage point of the forest. He wasn't able to see the ocean, they were now too far into the forest for that, and the tree he had climbed wasn't the tallest by far, many of the surrounding trees towering over his.

Undeterred still, Luffy jumped over to another, taller tree and climbed that one.

"Oi, Luffy, don't go too far ahead, alright?" He heard Ace shout to him from his tree below him. He turned and gave a thumbs up that he knew Ace would see while telling Sabo he wouldn't go too far. Even if he could just follow his brothers' waves right back to them, he wouldn't go and get himself lost on purpose.

Even if that tree over there looked pretty tall.

His new tree was tall, taller than his last, but yet again, not the tallest. He had promised he wouldn't go too far ahead though, so he waited for Ace and Sabo to catch up before jumping over to the next tallest tree that he could see.

And so it went for the next few hours. Luffy, on the hunt for the tallest tree, jumped from tree to tree, each one taller than the last, yet not the tallest of them all. Eventually, Sabo called up to him and told him they should take a break for lunch, and by taking a break, he meant go and hunt. This was fine by both Ace and Luffy, the two scrambling down their trees simultaneously towards their blonde brother. The thought of hunting was always tempting to the three brothers, especially since it reminded them of easier, better days back on their home island, hunting giant animals in their jungle.

The animals on this island were tiny in comparison, easy to defeat, but their meat tasted the same. With a practiced routine, the brothers took down animal after animal, though were careful not to kill too many so as to deplete the forest's natural predators and leave the townspeople here without food.

Starting a fire proved more difficult than they thought it would seeing as they were surrounded by such a dense forest. There was no clearing that they could find that was big enough to safely start a fire, and because of that, the trio had to make their own clearing.

Between exploring, hunting, and clearing their own patch of land the brothers had worked themselves into a ravenous hunger. The second an animal was cleaned and cooked, it disappeared in one of the trios mouths, barely filling their bottomless appetites. The three sat around the fire, eating animal after animal, and before they knew it, the food was gone and they were satiated.

It was nostalgic as the three laid on the ground, all of them around the fire that they were letting burn itself out. Looking up through the surrounding trees' leaves they could see the bright blue sky, a few clouds dotting it. Bones were scattered around them, as well as the remains of the trees they'd knocked down, and each of them had stomachs full of delicious meat.

It brought back memories that they hadn't thought about in a long time.

With the whole facility thing, the trauma, being constantly hunted by the marines over something that they had had no control over, they hadn't had much time to just sit and enjoy the peace and calm of being out. Being free.

Sure, over the year of being with the Whitebeards crew they had had times where they could reflect back, where they could realize they were truly out, but it hadn't ever felt real. All of their sessions with Whiskey had been in an attempt to get the brothers to see that the doctors, the marines, had no control over them anymore. The only ones who could control them were themselves, and that had been the hardest lesson for the brothers to learn.

Sitting there in the forest, only the three of them, no one there to tell them what to do, it finally sunk in for them that they didn't have to let the memories of the facility hold them down.

"Wanna spar?" Ace asked quietly, not wanting to speak too loud in case he accidentally broke the quiet peaceful air around them.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, obviously not as concerned about being quiet as Ace was.

"That would be nice." Sabo agreed, smiling softly as he spoke. Ace smiled as well, taking in the now fleeting peace while he could, before sitting upright.

"Luffy, go take some of the bark off that tree over there. And take this." Ace said, tossing Luffy the dagger he always had strapped to his belt. Luffy caught it easily and nodded, heading off to one of the upright trees and stripping the bark off of it before unsheathing the dagger and carving into the tree.

Sabo stood slowly, taking his time as he brushed the dirt and leaves off his clothes. He unstrapped his pipe from his back and twirled it between his hands a few times before eyeing Ace.

"You didn't want to spar with Luffy first?" He asked with a grin, to which Ace rolled his eyes.

"When he's got that much energy? Nah, I'll let you fight him first." Ace said as he walked to go sit where Luffy had finished carving their initials into the tree, lines dividing them up evenly.

"So you're a jerk _and_ you're lazy." Sabo teased, noticing that Ace had had Luffy draw up their scoreboard for him.

"Like I said, too much energy. He was happy to do it, right Lu?" Ace asked, nudging Luffy who nodded, still beaming.

"Alright, you know the rules still, right Luffy?" Sabo asked as he crouched down into a fighting position.

"Yup!" Luffy chirped, also lowering in preparation.

"On my mark!" Ace announced, watching as his brothers tensed in anticipation.

"Go!" He shouted. Luffy was the first to attack, drawing his fist back and flinging it Sabo's way. The blonde blocked it with his pipe though, sending it recoiling back to Luffy instead.

It was a stark contrast to their past spars on their home island where Luffy could barely aim straight, much less handle his own punches recoils, but now he did it without even blinking, sending another flurry of attacks at Sabo, though never gaining much ground against his older brother.

As Ace had predicted though, Luffy had too much energy for his own good and he very nearly managed to win a few of his fights against Sabo. It didn't matter though, because all of the fights were his loss, Sabo being the inevitable winner of the two each and every time.

Ace handed the dagger over to Sabo who took it, sweating a bit after his fights with Luffy.

"We can't let Luffy get this much pent up energy again," Sabo vowed, dropping to sit against the tree. Ace snickered at his brother before facing Luffy who still looked ready to go, not even sweating in the slightest as he stood at the ready, waiting for the sparring to resume.

With all that had happened in the past few weeks, and this being the first island they'd docked at since Thatch's attack, it was understandable as to why Luffy would have too much energy that he needed to get out, but that was also why they were doing this.

Well, that and sparring was fun.

"On my mark," Sabo announced now, pipe lying across his lap.

"Go!" And off the two went, Luffy just as enthusiastic as before as he belted attack after attack at Ace. Like always, Ace still had the upper hand amongst the two, and no matter how hard Luffy tried he continued to lose fight after fight.

"Come on Luffy, you can do better than that!" Ace teased as he ducked under another one of Luffy's kicks. Luffy's face grew more serious as he tried even harder to get just one win against his brother, but as he tried throwing another punch, Ace blocked it with his arms, covered in haki, and charged towards him, kicking him and flinging him into a tree.

"Looks like another win for Ace," Sabo said from the sidelines, carving the win into the tree under Aces initial.

"Aw! Another one! I'll beat you for sure then!" Luffy whined as he stood up from the tree, looking as if he hadn't even felt the bone-crushing impact of hitting the tree, and honestly, he hadn't.

"You know the rules Luffy, 50 fights each." Ace said.

"Maybe next time, Lu," Sabo said as he walked up, ruffling Luffy's hair. Luffy pouted, but eventually conceded, taking the dagger from Sabo and heading to the tree where he sat, ready to keep score.

Of course, the fights between Ace and Sabo were much more evenly matched, and as Luffy gave the go-ahead for each new spar to take place, it became evident to him that his brothers were still too evenly matched.

At the end of it all though Ace managed to pull out a win, putting him five ahead of Sabo much to the blondes disdain.

"Damn, every time," Sabo said, strapping his pipe back onto his back. Ace grinned triumphantly, fists flying into the air.

"Yes! Still the undefeated champion!" Ace called out, fist-pumping the air as he gloated. Sabo rolled his eyes while Luffy laughed, enjoying the happy feelings coming from both of his brothers, even if Sabo looked like he wasn't that happy.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in why don't you. I wasn't _that_ far behind." Sabo said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night man." Ace said tone gentle as if he was speaking to a child. Sabo glared to his brother but decided to ignore the last comment, turning his attention instead to Luffy.

"Alright Luffy, let's go find that tall tree of yours, hm?" Sabo asked, reminding the youngest of his earlier endeavor.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Luffy cheered, climbing back up into the tree and leaving their clearing. Ace was quick to follow, still gloating loudly about his win, while Sabo made sure the fire was really out before following. They didn't was to accidentally be the cause of a giant forest fire after all.

After having determined already that there was almost always a taller tree than the previous one, Luffy decided that the much better idea was to rocket himself straight up from the top of his current tree. Of course, he did this without running the idea by Ace and Sabo, so the two nearly had a heart attack as they watched their youngest brother fling himself straight up into the sky. He was fine, he was rubber after all, but that didn't mean there was a split second in the brothers' thinking where they believed Luffy was a normal human who was going to be seriously injured falling from that height.

"We need to teach him not to do that." Ace said, eyes wide as he watched Luffy carefully with his enhanced vision.

"Good luck with that. Luffy does what Luffy wants." Sabo said, though his eyes were just as wide and his heart was beating fast.

"Hey, you guys, I think I saw it! The biggest tree!" Luffy called as he began falling back down. Before they could worry about whether Luffy was going to attempt to save himself from falling to the ground, they watched him stretch his arms, grabbing onto the top of a nearby tree and flinging over to it.

"Luffy, don't go flinging yourself into the air like that, alright?!" Sabo called over to him in a vain attempt to save them from future heart attacks.

"What? Why?" Luffy asked in confusion, not understanding why he couldn't do it. It had given him the desired results; he knew where the tree was now, and he hadn't gotten hurt, so what was the issue?

"Just tell us next time you're about to do something like that, alright?!" Ace called over instead. Still not sure why this was a big deal, Luffy shrugged and agreed before heading off towards the tree.

"Oh yeah, I think I saw a clearing too! Too bad, cause we made our own!" Luffy called back to his brothers who weren't too far behind him.

"Really? That's cool. Was it big?" Sabo asked, launching himself from branch to branch.

"Yeah! I couldn't really see it, but it looked big." Luffy said, only having gotten a fleeting look at the clearing, more focused on the tree he had been looking for.

"We could go check it out before we head back to the Moby if it's not too far away." Ace suggested. The brothers agreed to the idea, and soon enough Luffy was climbing what he proclaimed to be the tallest tree in the whole forest.

"Ace, Sabo, look at me! I'm so high up! I can see the whole island!" Luffy said in awe as he looked around, hand shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight shining on him.

"Oh, there's that clearing I was talking about too!" Luffy said, pointing off towards said clearing. Ace and Sabo looked and even though they weren't in the same tree as Luffy, they were still high up enough to see it as well.

"Huh, it looks like there's something in it... a building?" Ace asked, more to himself as he inspected the clearing.

"A building? That far away from the town?" Sabo asked in confusion.

"I don't know, that's what it looks like. It's pretty big, but the trees around it are bigger so I can't really see it that well." Ace said with a shrug. The brothers shared a look before it was decided that they would go check it out.

Traveling atop the trees was a much faster way of travel and within minutes they were close enough for Sabo to hear voices coming from the building, telling him that it wasn't abandoned.

"There are definitely people there from what I can hear. Lots of them too." Sabo said, eyebrows scrunching in concentration. Getting closer and closer, the sounds cleared until Sabo was able to hear well enough to understand what was being said. As he took in the many conversations taking place, Luffy became increasingly uncomfortable, frowning and hesitating in his swings between trees.

"Bad feelings," Luffy said simply, shivering as he felt the sudden onslaught of dark feelings coming from the building. It ranged from sadness and fear, to even the darkness.

"What kind of bad feelings?" Ace asked. Unbeknownst to him, Sabo was growing paler, eyes widening and dread filling him.

"People there are scared, and in pain, and sad, and some of them have the darkness too," Luffy said, stopping completely in his movements, not getting any closer to the building. Ace and Sabo stopped as well, Ace glancing back and forth between Luffy and the building.

"Y-you guys, I think... I think that building is a facility." Sabo said, voice soft and eyes still wide. Ace and Luffy's eyes both grew wide as well, dread now filling all three of them as they turned to look at the building.

"They're talking about tests, and test subjects and calling out numbers. I can hear screaming too, and people in pain." Sabo explained, not wanting to jump to conclusions, but feeling an eerie sense of deja vu listening in on this building. It sounded all too familiar to their own facility.

"There's more than one facility?!" Ace asked in disbelief, gripping the tree branch he sat on tightly, nearly snapping it in his hands.

"I don't know, I don't even know if this is a facility. Maybe it's like back at Fishman Island, where we thought it was a facility and it was just Shirahoshi, but... this is almost exactly what our facility sounded like." Sabo said, the fear beginning to creep up on him now. He tried to keep it under control because he could already see that Luffy was breathing much too heavily for his liking, most likely on the verge of a panic attack.

"Ok, ok, we have to... we should..." Ace was at a loss. All their sessions with Whiskey, all the time they spent trying to get rid of the facilities control on them, and here they were, finding out there were more than one of the horrid buildings.

"Pops. We should go tell Pops." He said after taking a deep breath. Sabo nodded in agreement, but the two were quick to realize that Luffy seemed to be in a state of shock, unresponsive.

"Luffy? Oi, Luffy, come on, we're gonna go back to the Moby and tell Pops about this. He'll know what to do." Ace said gently, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder in an attempt to snap him out of it. It took both Ace and Sabo coaxing the boy for him to finally snap out of it, blinking and breathing heavily as he looked at the two.

"Its alright Lu, come on, we're going back to the Moby to tell Pops about this, alright?" Sabo asked soothingly. Luffy nodded, and slowly but surely the three climbed down from the trees, all of them not trusting themselves to not fall out of them.

And it had been such a good day too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> And now you see what this arc is going to be about. The idea of multiple facilities was mentioned during Fishman island, but this time there is much more reason for the brothers to think that this building, in the middle of a dense forest, is a facility. With the sounds and feelings coming from the building, its highly likely that this is what it is.
> 
> This arc will have a lot of revelations throughout it that I can't wait for you all to see and seeing as its the final arc, I want it to end with a bang. Fun fact about this arc though; I didn't originally plan to have it at all. In the original planning for this story, the 'bang' that I have planned wouldn't have been possible because a certain character wouldn't be alive for it to happen.
> 
> I'll explain more in depth about that next chapter.
> 
> When I rewrote my plans for this story I had the idea for a future future event- think sequel- and for that to happen, this needed to happen. Thus, this arc was born.


	92. Dark Revelations

The walk back to the beach happened in such a blur that the brothers weren't even quite sure how much time had passed. All of them were lost in both their thoughts and their feelings to notice something as fickle as the passing of time. Eventually, though, they were stepping out of the dense forest and onto the soft, uneven ground of the sandy beach, the Striker resting exactly where they had left it earlier that day.

Like their walk through the forest, getting the Striker in the water and beginning their return to the Moby could have taken minutes, or even hours and the brothers wouldn't have had any clue.

When they finally reached the massive ship, however, that blur of time finally broke, and it was as if they were waking up.

"Hey, you guys are back earlier than expected." One of the shipwrights said as he continued prepping boats, most likely for anyone who wanted to visit the island they'd just numbly left.

"Do you know where Oyaji and Marco are?" Sabo asked for the brothers, noticing that Luffy still looked in no shape to even be standing and Ace was still too lost in thought to speak.

"Yeah, I think they're both out on deck still. The nurses were hounding Pops about resting in his room but I'm pretty sure he ignored them and is still in his chair. Marco was helping groups that wanted to go relax on the island get sorted and ready to go." The shipwright said, pausing in their work to examine the brothers some more, his eyebrows furrowing in a mixture of confusion and worry.

"You three alright? You don't look so good." He said, taking in their pale skin and almost haunted looks.

"Y-yeah, we're fine, we just need to talk to them about something is all," Sabo replied weakly, and it was obvious his ship brother didn't agree, but he nodded none-the-less, still looking skeptical.

"If you say so." He said before returning to his work, eyeing the brothers as they began making their leave.

The walk to Whitebeard was made in silence, and even though they passed many of their shipmates- many of which greeted and welcomed the brothers back- they merely ignored them in favor of getting to their father figure faster. They didn't mean or want to be rude, but with the revelations they'd just had on the island, being rude paled in comparison to the worries they had.

Reaching the deck Ace was quick to spot Whitebeard, sitting in his chair as the shipwright had suspected, and he immediately headed his way. Sabo and Luffy followed behind their eldest brother wordlessly, both of them still processing what they'd seen, heard, and felt.

"Welcome back my sons." Whitebeard greeted as they walked up to him, but within moments his warm smile was turning into a frown of worry once he took in their appearances.

"Is everything alright?" He asked. A few of their crew members were watching them, having noticed the brothers' strange demeanor as they walked up to Whitebeard, but once they saw that their Captain was handling it they turned away, leaving the brothers to their semi-private conversation. Really though, it could only get so private when you were standing on an open deck with hundreds of pirates milling around you.

"Oyaji, we uh..." Sabo trailed off, his mind not connecting correctly to his tongue, making it difficult to tell Whitebeard everything on his mind at that moment.

"We found something. On the island." Ace spoke up instead, voice steely and hard as he clenched his fists tightly, nails biting into his palms and sending spikes of pain through his hands, which he promptly ignored.

"What was it?" Whitebeard prodded gently, taking notice of how much this thing the brothers had found was affecting them.

"It was a building, out in a clearing opposite of where the town is and surrounded by the forest. We got a little closer to see what it could be and-" Ace stopped speaking, not trusting his voice to continue at that moment. Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down as much as possible, he continued.

"We think... we think it might be a facility." Ace finished, voice low and quiet now, as if someone might overhear, which was possible out on the deck.

Whitebeards frown deepened, and suddenly the brothers' demeanor made sense to him. Why they would return to the ship hours earlier then they had planned to, why they looked so pale, and most of all why they looked so terrified. The one thing they hated the most, feared the most, could lay on the island they had been exploring only moments earlier.

"You're sure that is what it was?" Whitebeard asked, not because he didn't believe them, but because he wanted to be sure.

"Not entirely," Sabo said now, his voice also quiet like Aces had been.

"We got close enough that I was able to hear what was going on inside, and from the sounds of it, its definitely a facility, but we weren't close enough for Ace to see anything," Sabo explained.

"I could feel the bad feelings too, like sadness, and fear, and darkness," Luffy added meekly, eyes trained on the ground as he tried letting Whitebeards warmth push away all the bad feelings he was experiencing. It didn't help that he was inadvertently letting in both Ace and Sabo's fear and worry as well, only further influencing his own emotions to an unmanageable extent.

"This is troubling news. We'll have to make sure that this building really is a facility, and if that's the case we should try and help any children who may be inside." Whitebeard said, looking to be thinking deeply now.

"Luffy, would you mind getting Marco? He's on the upper deck." Whitebeard said, gesturing towards the area he knew the Commander to be in. Luffy nodded and immediately headed off, following Marco's scent to find him faster.

While Luffy did this Ace and Sabo stayed with Whitebeard, still trying to deal with the idea that there could be more than one facility. The thought had crossed the brothers' minds back on Fishman Island all that time ago, but they had been proven wrong at the time.

Hopefully the same would happen this time.

"What's going on, yoi?" Marco asked as he and Luffy walked up. He looked worried, which made sense seeing as not only were the brothers back early from the island but now they were also having a pow-wow with Whitebeard.

"It seems there could possibly be a facility on this island my son," Whitebeard explained with a sigh. Marco's eyebrows raised in surprise, glancing at the brothers and suddenly understanding.

"I see." He replied, thoughts moving a mile a minute.

"Yes. We don't know for sure, however, the brothers here have strong suspicions about it. I believe we should send a small group to go and scout this building. If it turns out to be a facility then we will try and rescue the children that may be held inside." Whitebeard told Marco.

"Of course. I can go get Ruta and Izo, they would be best for scouting. Maybe Jiru as well, yoi." Marco said, thinking out loud. It would be best to bring a small group along to avoid suspicion and their chances of being caught, and those three were the most inconspicuous of the Commanders.

"That's a good idea. Why don't you go and round them up." Whitebeard suggested, to which Marco nodded and headed off to do just that, leaving the brothers with Whitebeard again.

"I understand that this may be difficult for you three and I also understand if you don't want to, but with your abilities, it would be best if you went along as well," Whitebeard said to the brothers, watching them carefully as he spoke to gauge how they were handling all of this. He would never ask any of his sons or daughters to do something they truly didn't want to do without reason, and the brothers were no exception.

"I'm going. Even if these aren't the same doctors from our facility, it'll still feel good to punch them in the face." Ace growled out, fists still clenched tightly at his sides that it was nearly drawing blood now.

"I know that the facility is a big source of distress for you three, and you have every right to want to get even a bit of revenge, but you're going to have to put that aside for now. There are children here that need your help, just as you needed ours all that time ago. The children come first in this situation, my sons." Whitebeard said gently. It was asking the three a lot, to put aside their trauma and think of someone else instead, but it was necessary if they were going to join the recon group. The children there couldn't defend themselves like they could. They needed their help, and if they went in thinking only about revenge, it could put the children at more risk then they were already in.

"We understand," Luffy spoke up suddenly, shocking both Ace and Sabo. They had thought Luffy would have a hard time deciding if he wanted to go or not, especially since he'd been in shock since they saw the possible facility, but there he stood, tall and determined as he looked Whitebeard in the eye and agreed to the Captains words.

"I assume that means you're going as well my son," Whitebeard said with a warm smile to the youngest.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed in acknowledgment. It took another second of processing before Sabo sighed.

"I'm going too. Someone has to keep an ear on these two." He said, pointing his thumbs to his brothers on either side of him. Ace gave him a look of indignance as if he couldn't fathom the idea that he caused any trouble, while Luffy laughed quietly to himself, owning up to the fact that he had a tendency to cause trouble.

In his defense, he didn't mean to get into trouble. Most times at least.

At this point, Marco was returning with the other three commanders, each wearing various faces of worry or seriousness.

"Marco says there might be a facility on the island?" Jiru asked, wondering if Whitebeard would confirm the words.

"It seems so, yes," Whitebeard answered with a nod.

"I'm sending you four, as well as Ace, Sabo, and Luffy to go and scout out the building. Figure out whether this building is really a facility or not. If so, your priority is to get any children inside out and back here to the Moby. On the off chance that this is a facility I'll have the Moby moved closer to this building." Whitebeard explained to the group.

"I've got my mini den den, yoi. If this is a facility I'll call and ask for reinforcements to help clear the building out." Marco said, pulling out the small, sleeping snail from his pocket.

"Good. I'll make sure the nurses are informed and ready for possible patients." Whitebeard continued, glancing around the deck and working out who he was going to have perform what task. They would need groups to be ready to fight if this was a facility as well as groups ready to help escort children to the infirmary. If the children were anything like the brothers had been, they would need all the help they could get. He would also have to have the chefs get started on a large amount of food for the children.

It was going to be a lot of work, but they'd done it once without any foreknowledge, and they could do it now.

"Stay safe my sons," Whitebeard said to the group who nodded in response.

"We'll do our best Oyaji," Izo affirmed before they all began leaving, heading to the boats that would take them back to the island.

As the group walked away from the Captain they were watched closely by their surrounding crew members. Many had picked up on the fact that something seemed to be happening, especially with how the brothers had returned to the ship, and naturally, they were curious. The group ignored them, knowing that someone would explain it to them eventually.

Once below deck, the brothers all piled back onto the Striker while Izo, Haruta, and Jiru got into one of the boats. Marco opted to fly ahead in his phoenix form to scout the forest nearby the beach on the chance that someone may have seen the brothers earlier and followed them back. The brothers had been too out of it before to even think about the idea that they could have been spotted and followed.

Ace fired up the Striker, and off they went, the other Commanders following behind. When they all reached the beach Marco returned, informing them that the nearby forest still seemed to be empty, indicating the brothers hadn't been spotted. When the boats were pulled up safely away from the water they began to devise a plan on how they were going to return to this building.

It was decided that Ace and Marco were taking the high ground, Ace sticking to the tops of the trees and staying on the lookout for anyone roaming the forest while Marco flew above the trees in his phoenix form and helped keep a lookout from there. Luffy would stick to moving through the trees- though he'd stay in the lower branches- and use his sense of smell to make sure no one had come by recently. Apparently, according to Luffy, it was easier for him to smell from the trees instead of being in the group with the others where their scent would distract him. Meanwhile, Sabo, Jiru, Izo, and Haruta would stay on the ground while Sabo kept an ear on Ace, Marco and Luffy in case they found something.

Plan set, the group split up, Ace, Marco, and Luffy heading upwards while the rest began walking to the dense forest ahead. Luffy stuck to the lower branches, barely visible to the group, but Ace and Marco were gone from their vision the second they walked into the thick of the trees.

At first, they walked in silence, everyone tense with the possibilities of what they could be walking into, but eventually someone, Haruta namely, spoke up.

"So, uh, how are you guys doing? You know, after finding out there might be another, um, facility." Haruta questioned hesitantly. He hadn't been around when the brothers got back, hadn't seen their pale, terrified faces, so he had no clue if they were handling this well at all.

"We're... managing," Sabo answered after a moment of thought, glancing upwards to Luffy who continued on a bit ahead of them, not hearing the conversation.

"I mean, this isn't exactly something we were expecting, but..." He trailed off, gaze focusing back to the trees ahead rather than looking at anyone as he tried processing what he was feeling. No one pushed him to continue, all of them understanding this was a difficult time for not only him, but Ace and Luffy as well. If they didn't want to talk about it, they wouldn't force them to.

"Well, honestly, I'm not really sure how I feel at the moment. I guess I could ask Luffy, he'd probably know, but that's a little... strange." Sabo started, eyebrows furrowing at the thought. It was a strange concept, that someone else had the ability to know his own feelings more then he did, but Luffy was a strange person, abilities or not.

"That makes sense, given the history you have with the place. Regardless of whether this really is a facility or not, it doesn't mean it didn't bring up bad memories or feelings in you three." Izo assured. He'd had his own share of traumas in the past, almost all of the crew had. Whether it was the passing of a crew mate, a family member, or just a friend, whether it was witnessing a devastating fire, or watching a corrupt government like the Marines allow people like the Celestial Dragons to take people and make them slaves, they'd all had something they'd lived through that was difficult for them to get past.

Sure, those traumas weren't exactly on the same level as the brothers' seven years of torture, but they were traumas none-the-less, and they knew how fickle triggers could be, how debilitating they could be.

"When we first realized that this building might be a facility we all kind of went into shock I think," Sabo admitted to the listening commanders. He knew from his experience with Whiskey that talking through things like this could be helpful, and he knew for a fact the brothers would have plenty to talk about at their next session with the nurse.

"I'm not even sure how long ago it was that we found the building. Time just kind of... stopped. I don't even really remember getting back to the Moby. Luffy was the worse of all of us and I'm a little surprised he wanted to come along. Ace and I had to snap him out of it once we realized we should tell Oyaji about the building." Sabo said, once again looking towards his brother with a mixture of worry and wonder.

"He's always been fairly resilient," Jiru commented, also turning to look at the young teen. Over the year that the crew had gotten to know the brothers they noticed that all three of them had a tendency to bounce back from things, Luffy especially.

"Yeah, he's always been like that. Truthfully, I'm a bit jealous of his ability to take things in stride all of the time." The blonde said with a light chuckle.

"He's an enigma. I don't know if the worlds ready for someone like him quite yet." Izo said with a sigh, knowing of the youngest's dream to become the pirate king. It had come up in conversation more than once until eventually the whole crew knew of their ship brother's plan to leave them at 17 to form his own crew. Many of them were a bit bummed out at the idea that Luffy would leave them, but Whitebeard had merely laughed and told them that all children had to leave the nest eventually, the rest of them were just late bloomers.

That had almost caused a riot, one in which their Captain did nothing but laugh about.

The group grew silent again after that, the only sounds around them being those of the animals hiding in the trees or the rustling of the leaves and branches as Luffy jumped from tree to tree with practiced ease. It took about a half-hour of walking for them to finally be close enough. Sabo heard it seconds before Ace was telling him he could see it, and hearing the sounds for a second time just cemented the idea for Sabo that this was a facility. Hearing numbers being called, tests being announced, crying, screaming.

It was almost too much to handle.

He was given a bit of reprieve as the sound of Luffy, Ace, and Marco descending distracted him from the muffled sounds coming from the building.

"We're close enough now. Marco and Ace are coming down." Sabo told the group. Luffy sat on the lowest branch, visible to everyone now as he waited for the two to reach them.

"Whats it lookin' like?" Jiru asked the two Commanders as they appeared from the trees, landing safely on the ground.

"No one around from what I saw," Marco said, arms flaring as they returned to two human arms rather than the flaming blue wings they'd been previously.

"I could see the building through the taller trees. It looks to be about three stories tall." Ace informed them, glancing towards where he knew the building to be. Now that he was back on the ground he couldn't quite see the building anymore, too many trees blocking his line of sight.

"There were big glass windows on the front of the building from what I could see. It was on the first floor so it was too low down for me to see what was in there. The windows got smaller as they went up the floors, the second-floor windows weren't nearly as big, just regular-sized, but the third floor windows were so small that I don't think I'd be able to see in them that well." Ace commented, thinking back to how tiny the top floor windows had looked in comparison to all the other windows.

"If you were closer do you think you'd be able to at least see through the bigger windows?" Haruta asked. They needed a way to know what they were walking into, so it would be helpful if this were the case.

"Yeah, definitely. I think those windows took up the whole wall of the first floor." Ace said with a slight scoff to his words.

"I might even be able to see in the second-floor windows too, but the third floors a no go." He continued.

"In that case, why don't you get as close as necessary and try and see as much as you can. You would get a better vantage point from the tops of the trees, but don't stick out of the top, yoi. That way it'll be more difficult to spot you." Marco told Ace, to which he nodded.

"Sure, I'll tell Sabo anything that I can see." Ace said before jumping back into the trees. Sabo took this time to sit down against a tree and focus on listening, not that he hadn't been before, but this time primarily on Ace. The sounds from the facility were still there, buzzing in his ears, but he tried once more to block those sounds from registering, instead listening to Aces every movement.

"I can feel the bad feelings again," Luffy uttered quietly, shivering almost unnoticeably. He'd had to deal with Ace and Sabo's worry and fear on the way here, along with his own mixed emotions on this, but now that they were close to the possible facility again he was getting an onslaught of negative emotions that he didn't like one bit.

"What kind of bad feelings?" Izo asked him in concern, all of them knowing the effect bad emotions had on Luffy.

"Like the sad ones, and the scared ones, and even the darkness." The youngest said, voice still low.

"How dark?" Marco asked.

"Not as dark as Teach or the weird devil fruit, but like a lot of people with grey colors," Luffy said, trying to put the feeling into words. It didn't feel like just one person's darkness, it felt like a multitude of them, all combining into one mass that made Luffy more and more uncomfortable as he felt it.

"Ne, Luffy, remember that time Curiel accidentally made that smoke bomb?" Haruta suddenly asked, confusing all of them with the sudden change of subject at a time like this. Luffy looked just as confused, eyebrows furrowed as he both tried recalling the situation as well as tried to figure out why Haruta was bringing it up.

"Yeah! It smelled really bad and made my nose hurt." Luffy said, face scrunching up at the memory.

"And he bought you that bronze figurine of a ship at the next island because he felt so bad!" Haruta said with a smile. Luffy laughed, smiling as well.

"And he asked Thatch to make me cupcakes! Those were so good." He said, mouth salivating and stomach rumbling at the thought of the delicious baked treats.

"It's a good thing we brought Ruta along," Izo said with a smile as he realized just what the young Commander had been up to.

"He's surprisingly good at distracting him." Jiru agreed, watching as the two somehow turned the reminiscing into an excuse to play a weird version of tag in the lower branches. Of course, Haruta had difficulty even getting into the tree which made Luffy laugh gleefully as he jumped away from the Commander and safely into the nearby tree.

"Oi, that's not fair! Get on the ground and run like a man!"

"No way, running through the trees is better!"

"Not long ago Ruta was the youngest Commander. Besides, he's always been the more childish of us all so it really is no wonder he and Luffy get along so well, yoi." Marco observed, smiling as well as he watched the two. From where he sat on the ground Sabo smiled as well, happy that someone had been able to distract Luffy, even if it was only for a moment.

The two continued playing for another few minutes, but once Sabo announced that Ace was getting close enough to the building they stopped, returning to the others as they all waited for Sabo to relay Aces words to them.

"Almost there... Ok, he's made it. He says he's not at the edge of the tree line, but he's close enough that he can see in the bottom floor windows. Apparently, it looks like a waiting room or something catered to children. There's toys on the floor and chairs against the walls and a desk facing the door that looks like a receptionist's desk." Sabo said, listening to his brothers words carefully before relaying them.

"He says that he was right about the third-floor windows, they're made of frosted glass and are too small anyways for him to see anything. A lot of the blinds are drawn on the second-floor windows so he can't see inside of them- oh, he found one that wasn't closed all the way. He can't see clearly enough though so he's going to get a little closer." Sabo relayed, all of them listening with rapt attention. He was silent a moment as he listened to Ace shuffle closer to the building, praying his brother was being careful to stay out of sight. Even if he was hiding in the tops of the trees there was still a chance someone might look out a window and spot him.

"He's closer now. He can't see the whole room but he can see a desk and some filing cabinets. There are a lot of papers scattered around the desk and- someone just walked into the room. He can only see their feet at the moment." Another minute of silence.

"They're getting closer to the window. He can see that they're wearing a doctor's coat and holding a file in their hands but he can't see their face. They're sitting at the desk now with their back to Ace and opening the file. The papers inside are out of his view so he can't see what they say. Ok, they're picking them up and he can see some of the words over their shoulder." Sabo settled further against the tree, taking a deep breath as he heard the beginnings of what Ace was seeing, hearing the dark growl to his brother's words as they both realized what the eldest of the trio was seeing.

"Subject #29343 Status: Terminated, Cause of Death: Cardiac Arrest, Test Last Administered: #897281. They're turning to a new page. Test #897281 Objective: Brain Enhancing Serum, Goal: To enhance the users natural intelligence to that of someone beyond comprehension, Number of Times Tested: 27, Number of Successes: 0, Number of Failures: 27, Effects Upon Failure: Subjects brain goes into overdrive which in turn forces the heart to work harder until it can't anymore, resulting in a fatal stopping of the heart." Sabo spoke through clenched teeth as he came to the conclusion that this was definitely a facility. With the things he was hearing, the things Ace was seeing and the things Luffy was feeling, there was no more question in his mind.

"I think that was all the evidence we needed," Haruta said softly, eyebrows slanted and a faint look of disgust on his face.

"Ace thought so too, he's on his way back right now," Sabo said, taking another deep breath and standing up, dusting the dirt from his clothes as he did.

"I'm going to call Oyaji and tell him about this," Marco said, walking off a bit further into the trees as he pulled out his mini den den. It didn't take long for Ace to return to them, only a few minutes, and by the time he did Marco was returning as well.

"Oyaji says the Mobys almost close enough to anchor, and once that happens he'll send the reinforcements our way, yoi. He has the nurses ready and groups prepared to help bring the children back to the Moby." Marco told them.

"So what's the plan? Barge in and start kicking the bastards' asses?" Jiru asked, arms crossed and frowning.

"It might have to be, yoi. Ace, did you see any other way we could enter the building? A backdoor or a side entrance maybe?" Marco asked.

"No, I didn't see anything except the big glass doors in the front." He said, shaking his head. He'd made sure to do a quick loop around the building in search of just that, but he'd only seen windows.

"In that case, we'll have to go straight in the front. In your facility, you were being held in the basement." Izo said, trying to figure out what their plan of action should be once they were inside.

"True, but our building hadn't been three stories tall, it'd only had the ground floor and then the basement." Sabo pointed out.

"You think the children are on the upper floors?" Haruta asked, pondering the idea.

"Most likely. Like I said before, the windows on the top floor were too small, and they were high up too, almost as if they were at the top of the wall. Not to mention they had frosted glass. It didn't look like that was someplace they'd put their offices." Ace said arms crossed over his chest as well as he thought back to everything he'd seen.

"I can smell for sweaty people. We'd be able to find 'em that way." Luffy piped up from where he sat on his tree branch, feet swinging in the air.

"Sweaty people?" Izo questioned, eyebrow raised. Luffy nodded.

"Mm. When we were in the facility we got all sweaty and smelly because we couldn't take baths. I could smell for the kids that way." Luffy said, face not showing any of his emotions.

"Good thinking, Lu." Sabo praised, smiling to his brother who returned it.

"Then we'll head in the front and Luffy will smell for the kids, yoi. We'll most likely need to find stairs so we should keep an eye out for those. Our first priority is to clear the building of any doctors or security that might be inside, yoi, that way we can get the kids out without having to worry that they'll get hurt on the way out. When it's safe we'll start getting all of them out and to the Moby." Marco explained, all of them nodding in understanding.

"When we get to the second floor though we might want to check it out. If what Ace saw is the same for all the other rooms on that floor it might be where they keep their information. We can check it out and maybe get some answers on what the facility's purpose is and why the marines allow them." Haruta added.

"True. Alright, Ruta and Sabo, you two will go and check the second floor once you reach it and gather as much information as you can. Luffy, you'll guide everyone to the kids, Ace, Izo and Jiru will go with you, yoi. I'm going to stay outside and lead the reinforcements to the building and then join you all after." Marco said. Once they all understood the plan they began making their way closer to the building, making sure to stay behind the cover of the trees as they got closer. It'd do them no good to be spotted now and have anyone inside prepare for their attack.

Once they deemed themselves close enough, lying just on the outskirts of the clearing, each of them hiding behind their own tree, Marco gave the signal indicating that they could begin. At once, they began charging towards the building, Marco turning into his phoenix form and heading towards the Moby instead.

Reaching the giant glass doors, there was no hesitation before Ace was kicking them open with a loud bang, shocking the receptionist at the desk so bad that they literally fell out of their chair, eyes wide.

"Where to Lu?" Sabo asked his brother, the youngest's nose scrunching in discomfort at the sudden blast of the medicine and alcohol smell that greeted him the second they entered the building. Under the intense, strong smell, however, was the smell he'd predicted. The smell of a lot of sweaty, bloody, dirty children inside the building.

"That way." He said, pointing to a door on the wall behind the receptionist's desk. Sabo nodded, but before they headed that way Ace looked to the receptionist who still sat on the ground in a mixture and shock.

"Hey, you, where're the stairs in this place?" Ace growled out as he glared at the man. The man lifted a shaky finger, pointing to the door Luffy had pointed to before.

"B-back there, first d-door on your right." He said shakily. With all the information they needed they all charged off into the door without hesitation.

"I'm so getting fired for this." Sabo heard the receptionist say, and only seconds after an alarm was blaring in his ears, making him wince. It had been loud and sudden, but as it continued blaring he tried to dull it, ignore it in favor of listening to the many footsteps he could hear running their way.

For all intents and purposes, the first floor seemed to be completely empty sans the receptionist in the front. Every door they passed they made sure to check inside, but each one was as empty as the last. The entire left wall was covered in doors, while there was nothing on their right like the receptionist implied. The hall looked like a classic hospital hallway, stark white walls, and linoleum tiles, and each room they peeked into looked like a room where a child would stay. They were painted with light pastel colors and had some toys in them, yet there were no children inside. They also passed what looked like a staff room of sorts, but again, no one was inside.

It seemed that the hallway wrapped around a central block in the center of the building and would eventually lead back to the waiting room in the front, which they determined when they made the only turn they could to the right and saw that down the hall was another turn to the right.

They didn't need to worry about that though because on the right wall, there were two doors.

"That ones the stairs right?" Jiru asked, pointing to the door closest to them.

"Either that or a trap," Izo replied, ready for either option.

"I'm guessing stairs. We're about to get some visitors." Sabo said, grabbing the pipe off his back in preparation for the people he could hear behind the door. Realizing what Sabo meant, everyone else got into battle-ready stances, and just in time too. The aforementioned door burst open and a crowd of people dressed in what looked like security or guard outfits all ran out. It took the crowd only a second to spot them, and once they did they immediately charged toward them.

Izo stayed put and began firing shots off at the crowd while the others ran forward to meet them before they could get any closer. It was a flurry of punches, kicks, and headbutts as they took down man after man. After looking at their auras, Luffy felt absolutely no remorse in doing so once he saw the mass of grey and dark grey colors. The darkest it got was a shade lighter than black, which made him a bit grateful there were no black auras but annoyed at how they could all be such bad people.

Once they had mowed down enough guards to get by, they ran to the doors. Izo stayed close, shooting at anyone who tried following them, and soon enough they were reaching the stairs and closing the door, blocking those outside of it from getting in.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll stay here and take care of these guys and meet up with you after," Izo said, holding the door that the guards were now banging on in an attempt to get open. They agreed, knowing Izo could handle himself and believed he would be fine before running up the stairs to the second floor.

"This is our stop," Haruta said, looking to the door on their left as they reached the top of the first flight of stairs.

"I can hear Marco and the others on their way here. They should get here within a few minutes." Sabo told Ace, Luffy and Jiru, all of whom nodded in understanding. Sabo walked up to the door, looking to Haruta for a second before pushing it open and swinging his body behind the door, pushing it forward and slamming it into a guards face who had attempted to run into the stairwell. Sabo's head poked around at them from behind the door, grinning.

"We should hurry up, the rest are headed this way. This guy had the misfortune of being ahead of them." Sabo explained, gesturing to the fallen body. Haruta grinned as well, wishing the three still in the stairwell luck before running off with Sabo, the second-floor door closing behind them. Sounds of a fight could be heard from behind the door, but they didn't have time to waste so the group of three began making their way up the next flight of stairs.

Once at the top they were met with a door right in front of them. No more stairs, no forks in the hall, just a singular door and the option to either open it or turn around and go back.

Of course, they were going with the former option with that one which was why Ace moved carefully towards the door, none of them knowing what to expect once they opened it.

'Kids are here. Smell is stronger.' Luffy tapped to them, just in case someone was close enough to the door to hear them. All of the Commanders and Whitebeard himself had gotten accustomed to using the silent language in times like this and were just as good at reading the taps as the brothers were. Sometimes there was a word or two they didn't know, but the brothers made sure to teach it to them whenever that was the case.

With Luffy's information, Ace pushed the door open ever so slightly, holding it tightly in his hand to keep it from swinging open too far. Once there was a barely visible crack, the fire user peeked through it, trying to gauge the situation behind the door as clear as he could before they went out there.

'Lots of doctors here. I think all the guards are downstairs- wait, no, there's a few here. Like the first floor, doors on the other wall and the hall goes left and right. Luffy and I can take the right, Jiru you go left and we'll meet once we clear the halls.' Ace tapped. Agreeing to the plan, Ace stepped back from the door a step before raising his foot and kicking it in much the same way he'd kicked the glass doors. It shocked the scrambling doctors enough that Jiru was able to slip through the door and to the left, all while knocking out the dumbfounded doctors watching. Ace and Luffy, as planned, went right and did the same as Jiru, knocking down doctor after doctor, as well as the occasional guard.

It was safe to assume that most of the guards had gone to the lower floors in an attempt to stop them before they got this high up and because of that there was a severe lack of them up here. This being the case meant that the two brothers were fighting the defenseless doctors as easily as taking down rookie pirates from the Blues.

As they made their way through the hall they slowly met back up with Jiru who was finishing off his own group of doctors, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a bullet thanks to his haki and knocking out the guard who had attempted to shoot him.

"All good?" Ace asked him as they finished fighting, all of them barely even panting.

"Yup. You?" He asked, looking over the brothers for any injuries, even if they were just scrapes.

"Same. Time to start getting these kids out." Ace said, changing the attention to the kids who were all watching them through tiny windows on their metal doors. The doors lined the entire left side of the halls, and in all of them, there was a tiny child, standing on their tiptoes as they watched the carnage happening outside their rooms.

"Right. I'm sure everyone else is here by now if Sabo was right in his estimate, but just in case I'll head down and make sure the way is safe to bring them down." Jiru said, turning to head back to the stairs.

"If you see Marco tell him to get the groups that are helping escort the kids out." Ace called to him before he turned the corner and disappeared.

"Alright Lu, time to get to work." Ace said, turning to the first metal door and inspecting it carefully.

"Mm. I'll get the other side." Luffy told him, leaving his brother just as he warned a kid to step away from the door, kicking it down once they did as told. With the two brothers working together they made quick work of opening the doors, each using their monstrous strength to kick the doors down once they made sure the child, or even children, inside was safely out of the way.

This facility was, despite its tall exterior, smaller then the brothers' facility had been. Even though this building was three stories tall while theirs had been one with a basement, most of this facility was wasted space. The entire first floor was completely empty and the second floor was... well, Ace and Luffy didn't know because they hadn't seen it, but even the third floor was smaller than their basement had been. Where their facility had easily housed about 30 kids, this one barely reached 20, most rooms having more than one kid to them.

Another difference was the rooms themselves. In place of the cold, empty, damp, dark basement they'd had, these kids had rooms with windows and beds with pillows and blankets. Sure, the beds looked crappy, the pillows looked flat and the blankets were ratty with holes, but they were small comforts that the brothers had been denied in their cells. Even the window was a luxury that Ace felt himself envying. To know when it was morning, when it was night, the passing of time. They hadn't had that. All they'd had was the meal times giving them a vague idea of what time it was, and even then they could have been fed breakfast at midnight and not known any differently. It had been insanity-inducing.

As Ace helped child after child leave their room, he couldn't shake the part of him that wished he'd been given these same luxuries. Seven years in that hell and they hadn't even been given proper clothing while these kids were given decked out rooms he would have killed for.

Of course, he knew how crazy it was to feel this way- to be envious of another tortured child's cell- but he couldn't help himself.

Forcing himself to focus on the kids and not the rooms, Ace swallowed that envy down, knowing that if Luffy felt his emotions he would ask questions Ace didn't want to answer. Their ship brothers were here now, helping escort the children to the stairs and to the Moby while Luffy and Ace did one last check of the floor to make sure no one was hiding or there weren't any children they missed.

Because of this, they found the lab where no doubt the kids were taken to be tested on. They also found a room with giant tanks filled with water, but Ace was quick to shut that door before Luffy could peek in, telling his brother it was empty instead. Just towel storage. Luffy felt his lie, and Ace knew he did, but the youngest didn't ask about it and instead, they moved onto the other rooms.

Meanwhile, before Ace, Luffy, and Jiru had started the process of saving children, Sabo and Haruta were finishing up the guards on the second floor.

"Man, that was a good work out!" Haruta said, stretching his arms as the last guard crumpled to the ground in front of him. Sabo smiled to him, strapping his pipe to his back again.

"That's for sure. Ace, Luffy, and Jiru have started fighting on the floor above us and reinforcements came and are helping Izo clear the first floor. Marcos heading up towards us." Sabo relayed to Haruta since the commander didn't have his hearing.

"That ability of yours is still so cool," Haruta said with a sigh, shaking his head as he moved to the door closest to him and opened it, peeking inside.

"Its got its perks, that's for sure." Sabo agreed as he went to his own door. Knowing no one was inside any of the rooms, Sabo didn't hesitate as he walked in, taking in the room that looked as Ace had described it. The far wall had windows on it with filing cabinets underneath it and a desk in the front of it. Bookshelves lined the wall beside the door and there was an armchair in the corner with a lamp beside it. Papers were strewn all over the desk and cabinets and there were books aplenty on the shelves.

It was going to take a while, but Sabo was determined to find out what information this place held.

He and Haruta worked together strategically to check every paper, every book, every note, trying to get any information on this place that they could. And information they got. Test notes, subject details, even doctor and guard information. It was all extremely recent and there wasn't a paper Sabo could find that dated back more then a couple of days, but he was learning more about the facility from these two days of papers then he'd learned in his seven years stuck in his prison.

At some point, Marco had joined them and Sabo could hear everyone else going to the third floor to help get the children to the Moby, but Sabo paid that no mind, instead scouring the pages in front of him. He sat cross-legged on the floor, piles of papers in front of him as he read over each one as quick, yet as thoroughly, as he could. When Marco walked in he barely even looked up to greet him.

"Ace and Luffy have gotten all the kids out of their rooms, yoi," Marco told him, standing in the doorway and watching as Sabo poured himself over the notes in front of him.

"That's good." Sabo said shortly, grabbing another page to read.

"There were about 20 of them from what I gathered." Marco continued, eyebrow raised now as he continued watching Sabo.

"Oh. Smaller than ours." Sabo noted, again, keeping his sentences short. Marco couldn't help but smile slightly as he walked further into the room.

"Find anything interesting, yoi?" He asked, thinking Sabo might talk more if it was about what he was so obviously invested in.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. There's a lot of notes here on the tests they were doing for the past two days, but anything before that I don't know. There isn't a single paper in here or any of the other rooms that I checked that date back further than two days ago." Sabo said, glancing around the room for any papers he might have missed.

"When we checked your facility we couldn't find anything. Maybe they get rid of their information systematically, yoi." Marco suggested, thinking back to when they'd saved Ace, Sabo, and Luffy from their facility. No matter how hard they'd looked, they hadn't found a single paper that talked about what they did in the place, but here it was if the place was brand new.

"Maybe," Sabo mumbled in agreement, grabbing another file and opening it up. From the front label, it was another doctor file that detailed who worked here, but Sabo was having trouble figuring out exactly what he was seeing in these files. There were too many abbreviations he didn't understand, like SST and FST which were always followed by numbers, some smaller than others. Each file had a picture of the doctor and a number next to them. Most of the doctors he'd seen in here had had the number 293 besides their picture, but occasionally he saw a number 670 or 351.

Opening this new file and glancing at it, his whole body froze up. Marco was quick to catch the change in demeanor and was immediately worried.

"Sabo, yoi? What's wrong?" Marco asked, trying to look at the file Sabo was staring at. Swallowing was hard, but Sabo managed it, still not looking up.

"Hey, Marco?" He asked, voice deathly quiet and void of emotion. Marco gave him a questioning look, still trying to understand what was happening.

"When you got us out of our facility... when you fought all those doctors..." Sabo started, and still, Marco was confused.

"Did-... did," Sabo couldn't find the right way to express his question, after all, it'd been a year ago and to Marco and the rest, they hadn't realized the significance of who they'd been fighting.

"Did you fight this man?" Sabo asked, pulling the paper clipped image from the file and showing it to Marco. The first commander's eyebrows furrowed, but he looked at the picture, trying to remember back to if he had seen him at the time or not. He didn't look familiar but it'd been dark in that basement and there was a possibility someone else had fought him instead.

"I couldn't say, yoi. Why, who is that?" Marco asked curiously. If possible, Sabo got paler, looking sick, and honestly, Marco was worried he was going to hurl right then and there.

"This-... It's Haru, and according to this file he was working here two days ago."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Like I said last chapter, I got the idea for this arc when I thought of an event for a future event that will take place in this story's sequel. The only way I could have that event happen though was if a certain someone was still alive; that someone being Haru.
> 
> Since the beginning of this story, I never really knew what I wanted to have happen to Haru exactly. At first, I was fine with his being killed alongside many of the other doctors in the facility. Then, I was alright with it never really being addressed. No one would really know if he was actually dead or alive and because of that there would always be a feeling of unease. Haru could come back, but no one would ever know for sure if he would or not. In the end, however, I found I was happiest with this idea. Sabo has found out that Haru is still alive and is still working in facilities.


	93. A Day in the Infirmary

Marco blinked slowly, processing what Sabo was telling him. Even though he only knew _of_ this man, he still knew the significance he held to the brothers, all the horrible things he'd done, and to learn that they hadn't taken him down for good back at the brothers' facility gave him mixed feelings.

"It says he was here two days ago and left yesterday. I still don't know what these abbreviations mean, but he's got the highest numbers I've seen so far next to SST; 1,924. The highest I saw before that was 100." Sabo said, voice strained and quiet as he spoke, looking back down at the file with wide eyes.

"Does it say-"

"Ssh!" Sabo suddenly shushed him, slamming the file closed and hiding it on the bottom of the pile of papers in front of him. Before Marco could ask what was going on Ace and Luffy walked into the room just as Sabo put on a smile that looked as forced as it was.

"Sabo, we fought all these doctors up there, and all the kids are- what's wrong?" Luffy stopped in his recounting of what had happened upstairs the instant he felt Sabo's emotions. The dread, the fear, the anxiety; it was the same way he'd felt when they'd found this facility, only now it was a hundred times worse and it made Luffy step back from his brother, not liking the feelings.

Seeing Luffy move away made Sabo's smile fall a little, but he forced it back up. He wasn't oblivious to Ace watching him closely either, a look that told him he wasn't buying the smile on Sabo's face.

"Its nothing, I just... I saw something was all. Bad memories." Sabo said, as truthfully as possible so as to not tip Luffy off. This seemed to appease the youngest who looked at him in understanding, and Ace seemed to buy it too once he saw that Luffy believed him.

"Oh. I saw scary stuff too, but I'm gonna tell Whiskey about it later. You should too! Or you can tell me or Ace about it!" Luffy offered with a cheery smile as he tried comforting the blonde. Sabo's smile was a little less forced now at his brother's words and he nodded.

"I know. Anyways, did everyone get out?" He asked, trying to avoid the temptation to grab Haru's folder and read it more.

"Yeah! Ace and I punched all these doctors and then we kicked these metal doors open! And they had nicer rooms then we did too, with beds and everything." Luffy said with a pout, Ace nodding his agreement and Sabo could see in his eyes that the eldest was jealous despite his attempts to hide it. Sabo couldn't help but feel the same but forced himself to ignore that.

"Huh, wish we'd gotten beds. Hey, could you guys go tell Ruta I finished this room? I have to get the non-important papers out of here." Sabo said, patting the pile of papers. Ace and Luffy gave the pile a grimace before nodding.

"Sure. We'll help carry that stuff back to the Moby after." Ace said, noticing that every door on this floor was open with similar piles of papers on the ground in them.

"Thanks, that'll be a big help," Sabo said truthfully, glancing at Marco who had remained silent this entire time. Conversation over, Ace and Luffy left the room and Sabo let out a relieved breath, peeking back over to Marco.

"They can't know about Haru." He told him once he knew for sure Ace and Luffy were out of hearing range. Marco nodded.

"I kind of figured that, yoi. Don't you think they have a right to know though?" Marco asked, watching as Sabo pulled the file out and opened it, giving it another quick once over before placing it in a pile closer to him, covering it with a few more papers.

"Right or not, it's better they don't know for their own safety. Knowing Ace, he'd go out on a manhunt to find him and Luffy wouldn't be able to handle it. Not yet at least. We may be getting better, Whiskey's sessions have helped ensure that, but we're far from healed. If Luffy saw this, he'd take it hard. Just seeing this facility again put him in a state of shock that Ace and I had to shake him from. Knowing Haru's still around? And working in facilities no less? It would be year 6 all over again, but worse." Sabo said, eyebrows slanted with worry at the thought.

"He can't know about it. Ace either." He repeated. Marco watched him for a minute in silence before sighing and nodding.

"Alright. I think you should tell them eventually, but I agree, yoi. Now isn't the right time." Marco relented, standing with Sabo.

"Thanks, Marco."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Welcome back my sons." Whitebeard greeted as the trio, along with Marco and Haruta returned, each holding their own stack of paper.

"Hey, Pops!" Luffy greeted back cheerfully. He nearly waved to the man before remembering he was holding something and stopped.

"Why don't we put these in the Library before you lose those Luffy?" Haruta asked, having noticed Luffys near catastrophe. With the wind blowing, those papers would surely have flown into the ocean had the youngest dropped them.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed in agreement, following Haruta to the Library they had on the Moby. Ace, Sabo, and Marco were about to follow as well when Whitebeard spoke up, making them pause.

"There's going to be a Commanders meeting to discuss the facility once Whiskeys done checking over the children. Sabo, you and Luffy are welcome to join seeing as this pertains to the two of you as well." Whitebeard told them.

"We'll ask Luffy if he wants to join, but knowing him he might be more inclined to bug the chefs in the kitchen," Sabo said with a small smile, Ace shaking his head beside him. Whitebeard smiled as well, laughing as he nodded.

"Yes, you're probably right. I thought I'd offer regardless." The Captain said. With that said, the three-headed to the library where Haruta was beginning to organize the stacks already there and Luffy was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, humming a made-up tune as he watched Haruta work. When they walked in his humming stopped and he beamed to them, seemingly in a cheery mood despite having been in another facility only a half-hour ago.

"Ruta, Luffy, there's gonna be a Commanders meeting about everything that happened once Whiskeys done with check-ups. Pops said you and Sabo could go to Lu." Ace told the two. Haruta looked up, acknowledging that he heard, before returning to his work. Luffy tilted his head, seeming to be deciding whether he wanted to go or not, before shrugging.

"Nah, meetings are boring," Luffy said matter-of-factly, smiling again. Ace and Sabo laughed at their brother while Marco shook his head, smiling as well as he placed his stack of papers beside where Haruta was working.

"Well, in any case, I'll be going. Just make sure you don't get into too much trouble without us." Sabo said, knowing that Luffy alone, without any commanders or he or Ace to keep an eye on him, probably meant trouble on some part of the ship. Even though there were hundreds upon hundreds of people on this ship, Luffy had a tendency to rope anyone who wasn't a Commander or his brothers into going along with his strange plans or ideas.

"Right!" Luffy agreed, still smiling, and the two older brothers didn't know if he really understood what they were asking or not.

"Anyways, what are we gonna do with all this paper?" Ace asked as he looked at the multiple stacks sitting on the table. It was a lot of information and the library on the Moby was already pretty full.

"I was thinking we could put most of them in the offices, but I wanted to put some of the more less important ones in here so I didn't take up all of the space in there," Haruta explained as he began creating more piles, one being the important office papers and the other being the not so important library papers.

Meanwhile, Luffy- who was growing bored of this conversation- decided that he wanted to go do something else instead. It was easy to slip out of the room unnoticed, he'd done it plenty of times before, so when he heard the conversation continue on as if he was still there he counted it a success. He wasn't really sneaking off, it's not like he had to stay in there, but he wasn't exactly making his departure obvious either.

Walking out onto the deck he glanced around, trying to figure out what he wanted to do. Everyone was still busy with getting ready to leave the island, Whitebeard having decided that would be best to do before any marines came by to investigate the ruins of another facility.

This reminded Luffy of what they had done though. They'd saved children- children like he had been, like Ace and Sabo- from another facility that the government was allowing to exist, was _running_ even. Luffy didn't know much about politics or the government itself, but he knew enough to know that a place like the facility was the opposite of what the Marines prided themselves on. Fighting for Justice? For Freedom? The facility was neither of those things and yet they let those places be built, let children be taken, let doctors do horrible things to them.

Taking a deep breath Luffy focused instead on the fact that they had _saved_ those children, helped them get the freedom the marines had taken from them.

He could still smell the underlying scent of sweat, blood and dirt coming from the infirmary where the children were at and he felt a spike in his curiosity. Even though he and Ace had been there, opening those children's doors and letting them free, he hadn't paid much attention to the state they were in. He knew it wasn't good- a lot of them had barely been able to walk into the hall on their own- and so he decided he would go and check on them.

When he, Ace and Sabo had been brought to the Moby they'd all been cautious and scared of everyone. Of course, they'd had good reason. Ace and Sabo hadn't been awake to know that the pirates had saved them, and after seven years trapped in hell, they didn't know who to trust. These children, unlike them, probably hadn't been there longer than a month. After all, life expectancy for normal children was only three weeks at the maximum.

Luffy hoped that by visiting them, he might be able to cheer them up a bit. He could relate to what they'd gone through and he could quite literally feel their pain.

Mind made up, Luffy began making his way to the infirmary. Like before, everyone was too busy getting ready to set sail to pay the youngest of the crew much mind, so Luffy made it to the room without being stopped. Now that he stood outside the door, though, he hesitated. He could feel the children's confusion, their fear, their pain, and found that maybe it would be best to leave them alone until someone better at explaining things could talk to them; like Marco or Sabo, or even Whitebeard.

No. He could do this. He just wanted to make sure they were ok, and if he didn't want to stay anymore, he could leave.

Opening the door slowly, he peeked in. Nurses were moving around the room quickly and methodically, helping each child they passed, giving them bandages or water, but never a shot. After dealing with the brothers, they knew that the children wouldn't react kindly to the needles and they most likely wouldn't even be able to safely inject them.

Luffy was quick to spot Whiskey among the many nurses, holding a clipboard in her hands and taking down notes as she walked around, probably for that meeting that Luffy wasn't going to.

Knowing better than to sneak into the infirmary without Whiskey knowing, Luffy made his way straight to her. He'd rather not get in trouble with the head nurse. As Luffy walked over to her, Whiskey looked up, putting her clipboard at her side as she moved to greet him.

"Hello, Luffy. Did you need something?" She asked him, smiling gently to him. Over the year the three brothers had become good friends with Whiskey. After all, it was bound to happen with how much of their trauma they shared with her weekly.

"No, I just..." Luffy didn't even quite know what he wanted. Now that he was here his idea to try and help the children seemed harder than he'd originally thought. Outside he'd had other emotions to muffle those inside the room, but now that he stood here among them, it was almost overwhelming. It reminded him of those days locked in a cell of his own, constantly surrounded by pain and sorrow and terror.

"Wanted to visit?" Luffy said, more of a question than a statement. He could feel Whiskey's confusion, quickly replaced with understanding and she nodded.

"Alright, but you have to stay out of the other nurses' ways, understood? All of the children here need immediate medical attention and if you get in the way of that they can- and will- kick you out." Whiskey told him in a stern voice. Luffy nodded, serious as he agreed to not cause trouble for the nurses.

"Good. I have to go to a meeting right now, but I'll be back in an hour at most. Oh, and before I forget, with how busy the infirmary is right now, I'm going to have to bump your session until the end of the week. If you need to talk sooner though, just let me know." Whiskey told him with a gentle, reassuring smile. Luffy returned the smile with one of his own and nodded, watching as the nurse left the room.

Turning to look around he took in the many children, all in beds and covered in dirt and grime that contrasted harshly against the crisp, clean, white bed sheets. Some of them looked to be in more pain than others.

Not quite sure what to do now, Luffy decided to just go sit at one of the few nurses desks in the room so he'd be out of the way. A few of the kids had given him odd looks once they realized he was there, but Luffy could feel their curiosity and ignored it. Again, sitting at the desk, Luffy didn't know what to do. He opted to watch the kids for a bit, watching the nurses give them medical treatment, but that got boring quickly and he found himself playing with the paperclips on the desk instead.

Time passed in what felt like hours but was surely only a handful of minutes when Luffy felt a sudden spike of fear nearby. He had to take some calming breaths and remind himself that it wasn't his own fear, just someone else's that was influencing him. When he was calmed down he turned to see what was happening.

Throughout his time in the infirmary there'd been spikes in emotions here and there, mostly fear whenever nurses got too close to the children, but this one had been such a strong spike that it shocked him. Looking, he found the source to be a small girl, probably around 10 years old, and a nurse, Margarite, standing by her with a worried look, needle in hand.

"I know it looks scary, but there's nothing to worry about. You need this medicine to help you get better." Margarite told the child gently, trying to calm her down. The girl was on the verge of tears as she shook her head rapidly. The two had garnered the attention of all the other children in the room, all of them looking just as scared as they looked at the needle.

"It's not going to hurt you, I promise, its only meant to help you." Margarite tried explaining again, but the girl wasn't having it. To Margarite's credit, she wasn't getting frustrated, only worried, and Luffy could tell from the nurse's emotions that this girl desperately needed the shot she was refusing.

"Hi," Luffy suddenly said, not even realizing he'd crossed the room and was beside the girl's bed now, talking to her. Margarite and the girl both looked at him in surprise, both of them not having realized either.

"H-hi..." The girl said timidly, shying away from Luffy and inadvertently closer to Margarite.

"I'm Luffy! What's your name?" Luffy asked with a bright smile. He could feel a slight irritation coming from Margarite and hoped she wouldn't kick him out just yet.

"K-Kara..." Kara replied, still extremely timid, like a rabbit that'd been seen. All eyes were still on them, even the nurses seeing as Luffy had stolen their patients' attention.

"Luffy-" The young teen immediately cut off the nurse, which earned him a glare.

"Oh, that's a nice name! Have you ever wondered what you'd name yourself if you could? I'd be something cool like... Rocky! Cause rocks are tough and stuff. Or maybe Brock, cause that's almost like rock." Luffy rambled. Gradually, as Luffy spoke, Kara looked less scared and timid of him.

"O-or Rex, like a T-Rex." Kara offered quietly. Luffy's smile widened and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Rex! From now on, you can call me Rex, and you'll be... hm... Lion, cause you're super brave!" Luffy said after a minute of thought.

"I'm n-not brave," Kara replied, looking down at her hands.

"Sure you are, Lion! Everyone here is super duper brave, you know, cause you had to be near the mean doctors all the time." Luffy said with a grimace at the mention of the facility.

"Me and my brothers had to be near mean doctors too. For a long long time." Luffy continued, voice quiet but still holding every child's rapt attention.

"R-really?" Kara asked with wide eyes. Luffy was frowning now, but he'd started this conversation, he couldn't stop now.

"Mm. They took me and Ace and Sabo when we were little, like you, and we didn't get out for a long time." Luffy said, flipping his wrist and showing her the number tattooed there. Kara's eyes widened in shock, timidly reaching out and running her fingers over it.

"I-I got that too, I'm 29366," Kara said quietly, a swell of distraught coming from her that made Luffys frown deepen.

"No, you're Lion, not that stupid number on your wrist. I'm Rex. We don't have to worry about those mean doctors anymore because we're safe here on the Moby. These are nice nurses, they don't want to hurt us, they want to help us." Luffy said, gesturing to Margarite, and Kara immediately shied away from her, this time shuffling closer to Luffy.

"They helped me and my brothers get better after we were rescued too. We were scared of shots, actually, I still kind of am, but we need to get them to get better so we let them." Luffy explained, omitting the part where they hadn't actually gotten their first shot until months of being on the ship.

"B-but they hurt, and they're scary," Kara said in fear, eyeing the shiny needle again. Margarite had been watching the two closely this entire time, not interrupting once she realized what Luffy was doing. If anyone could relate to these children it was him and his brothers.

"Sometimes, yeah, but these are the good shots, the ones we need to get better. Hey, why don't I show you a trick?" Luffy asked, a smile on his face as he got an idea.

"A trick?" The girl asked in confusion.

"Yeah! A way to not be scared of needles anymore!" Luffy said, looking to Margarite who understood and left to get the necessary supplies.

"Are you lying?" She asked suspiciously, and Luffy looked offended at her words.

"What?! No way, Rex doesn't lie, that's not cool." Luffy said, crossing his arms and pouting as he looked away from Kara. The girl smiled a little at the antics as Margarite came back, another needle in hand and some cotton pads and a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the other, as well as a band-aid.

"Watch," Luffy told Kara, smiling to her again. The girl looked scared again, this time for Luffy as she watched him sit in a chair close-by, the nurse setting the supplies beside him. Still, every child was watching them, all in either wonder or fear.

"First, I don't look, cause the scary part was watching it happen for me," Luffy said as Margarite grabbed a cotton pad and got some rubbing alcohol on it. She rubbed it on his arm and Luffy looked away from her, towards the wall instead.

"And then I sing my favorite song so that I don't think about it." Luffy continued, still smiling widely as Margarite got the needle ready. At this point, Luffy began to sing about the islands in the North and South, all while the nurse began injecting the liquid in the needle into his arm. Before Luffy could even get to the verse about the North islands she was announcing she was done, cleaning the area again and placing a band-aid over it.

"See! Not scary or painful at all." Luffy told Kara, looking at her with a bright smile.

"Margarite's really nice. And Whiskey too, and Shirley, and Brandy, and Sherry, and-"

"I think she gets the point Luffy," Margarite said with a smile, putting the supplies away.

"So, Lion? Think you can get the good medicine?" Luffy asked Kara who hesitated. She looked between Luffy and Margarite who was still holding her needle before swallowing hard.

"Y-yeah..." She said, still obviously scared.

"I'll teach you my favorite song! That way you can sing it anytime you need to get the good shots!" Luffy told her, standing on the opposite side of the bed from where Margarite was, preparing the shot.

"Really?" Kara asked. Luffy nodded enthusiastically, still feeling the girls fear.

"Mm. First, it goes, 'The Islands in the South~ are warm~, Paina- Purupuru,'" He said, the girl smiling as she recited the words back.

"Good! And then, 'Their heads get hot~ and they're all idiots~!" Luffy continued, and once again Kara began reciting the words back.

"All done," Margarite said, once again beginning to clean up the supplies. The girl blinked in shock, turning to look at first the nurse, then her arm which had a similar band-aid to Luffy's.

"See, Lion! Not scary at all!" Luffy praised with a laugh. Kara was still looking at her arm in shock before she too slowly smiled, Luffy feeling her fear drift away. The other children all watched in amazement, the nurses smiling.

"Who else needs a good shot? I'll teach you guys the song too!" Luffy said, turning to look at the other children.

There was a hesitance, but one of the oldest looking boys in the room, maybe 12, slowly raised his hand and Luffy smiled to him before going to do the same as he'd done for Kara.

The nurses were pleased to have the help and Luffy systematically made sure that any kid who needed a shot got one without any of the fear they'd had before. When every one of the nurses were done giving medical treatments they told them they were going to send for one of the chefs to bring their food seeing as Thatch was in the meeting, and for now they could just rest. All of the children were enthralled with Luffy though and wanted to talk to him. He complied, of course, because that's why he'd come here in the first place, to cheer these kids up.

He told them stories about hunting back on his home island and all the adventures he'd had with the Whitebeards. He told them about the day he, Ace and Sabo were rescued, he told them about Makino, he told them about Fishman Island, anything he could think of.

At some point, the kids realized he had powers, namely his devil fruit abilities, and one of them suddenly spoke up. It was a girl who looked around 7 who had, for the most part, been quiet.

"Is it-... is it bad? To have powers normal people don't have?" She asked. Luffy could feel her apprehension and fear so he continued smiling to her, shaking his head.

"Nope, not at all. I've got lots of powers normal people don't have!" Luffy admitted.

"Really? Like what?" She asked in awe.

"Well I've got my gum gum powers, but I also have a _really_ strong sense of smell! I can smell things and people from days ago. I can also feel people's emotions too and see colors around people." Luffy told her, leaving out the memory thing. It was still a sore subject for himself, even after all this time.

"Because of... the bad doctors?" She asked, timid now. Luffy frowned, because that was the truth, and the truth brought back painful memories.

"Mm. I got the bad shots that made me hurt and I got my powers because of them." Luffy affirmed, now all too hyper-aware that the smell of the infirmary was achingly similar to the facility.

"T-the... bad doctors. They gave me powers too." She finally said after a minute of silence.

"Really?" Luffy asked, now in a similar state of awe the girl had been in minutes ago.

"Mhm. They gave me the bad shots too, and then when I woke up I could... move things." She said meekly, and Luffy gave her a baffled look.

"Move things?" He asked because couldn't everyone do that? The other kids looked just as confused until suddenly a pen from a nearby desk flew right into Luffy's lap. He looked at it in confusion, wondering how that had happened until he realized and a smile bloomed on his face.

" _Sugoi!_ That's so cool!" Luffy cried in unbridled joy. The girl shifted on the bed nervously, a smile slowly forming.

"You think so?" She asked, Luffy nodding rapidly.

"Yeah! I wish my powers were that cool!" Luffy added, imagining all the meat he could eat without even having to use his hands.

Once again, the ice was broken and the tension was gone. A new conversation erupted over Luffy and the girl, Joyce's, new powers and everyone wanted demonstrations, which Luffy was happy to give. After a bit of persuasion, Joyce agreed as well, and soon enough, they were entertaining the entire infirmary; nurses included.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

In the meeting room of the Moby, all of the Commanders, Whitebeard, Sabo, and Whiskey all sat at the large table, ready to discuss the events of the day. Whiskey had her notes with her and Sabo and Haruta had brought some of the more important files they'd found while searching the offices.

With everyone present, the meeting began.

It started with Marco, Ace, Sabo, Izo, Haruta, and Jiru all recounting their reconnaissance of the facility, describing how they were cautious and made sure they knew this place was a facility for sure before they attacked. They explained the paper Ace had read through the window, how that cemented the idea this was a facility, and how they divided up to take everyone in the facility down.

They mentioned Izo stayed on the first floor while Sabo and Haruta had the second and Ace, Luffy and Jiru went to the top, all while Marco guided everyone else to the building. Ace explained the condition of the rooms the children were locked in as well as the other rooms he and Luffy had seen in an attempt to make sure the top floor was empty. He brought up the tanks he saw, the lab, and the other various rooms filled with equipment that no doubt were used for bad intentions.

Izo mentioned that after he and the reinforcements took down everyone on the first floor they did another scan of the rooms, deciding they were most likely decoys for anyone who happened upon the facility. The 'hospital' rooms were all clean and pristine, but not a single child or doctor was in them. There was a staff room that seemed well used and another room filled with toys and books for children, but even that looked unusually clean and unused.

Marco spoke about how he did a quick scan of the first and third floor before joining up with Haruta and Sabo on the second, and that was where most of their information began.

"Sabo and I found tons of notes and files on the kids being held in the facility, and even the doctors themselves." Haruta began, pulling files out of the pile they had and opening them, placing them in the middle of the table for everyone to see.

"There are three types of files. Doctor files, test files and children files. Doctor files have pictures of the doctor themselves, as well as a number next to their picture. We're not quite sure what the number there means yet, but they all have them and they're only three digits long. A lot of them are the same, 293, but there are a few others too such as 670 or 351." Haruta continued, pulling out examples and showing everyone.

"Actually, I have a theory about that," Sabo spoke up, leaning forward.

"Whiskey, did the children happen to have similar wrist tattoos like us?" Sabo asked, showing his own number still bold on his wrist. The nurse nodded.

"Yes, I was going to mention that. They all started with 293, much like how you, Commander Ace and Luffy all start with 110." She said, glancing at her notes.

"I suspected as much. I think the numbers next to these pictures is what facility they work with. Most of them have the number 293 because that's the facility number they were assigned to. If we go with that assumption that means there are more facilities, such as 670 and 351." Sabo explained. This caused some murmurs from the group and Sabo could see that Ace was clenching his fists in his lap, which was the expected response. Sabo himself was having a hard time with the idea. He'd only gotten it after seeing that, next to Haru's picture, the number 110 was printed neatly.

"Well, that's one mystery solved, but there are still things we don't have answers to. For example, there are a lot of abbreviations on Doctor files, such as SST and FST. All of them have varying numbers next to them and there doesn't seem to be any pattern or correlation to them that I could find. Sabo?" Haruta asked, wondering if the blonde had any ideas. Sabo merely shook his head.

"I haven't made much headway with that either." He admitted, a bit frustrated that they had such valuable information in front of them but didn't know how to read it correctly.

"There are more abbreviations, more numbers, but we don't know what those mean either. Next, we've got 'Test Subject' files." Haruta said with a tone of disdain as he pulled out the children's files.

"These are a bit easier to understand then the doctors' files. Each one has a child's number. No name, no age, no weight, height, no personal information at all. Just the number they were assigned. Next, it goes into their status, alive or dead, and if the latter, the cause of their death. Each cause seems simple enough; cardiac arrest, water intoxication, suffocation, but factor in that these are children and not all of those are natural deaths by any means, it becomes not so simple. Among the deceased files, it states which test was last administered to them, and then gives a brief explanation of the test itself." Haruta said, reading one of the many children's files, frowning.

"It gives the test number, the test's goal, its objective, how many times it's succeeded, how many times it's failed, and finally, the results in both successes and failures. There's usually more failure then there is success." Haruta continued.

"On children who are still alive, it goes on to explain what tests they've been given so far, what test they're on currently, their symptoms after a day of testing, and plans for future testing." Haruta finished, sliding the child's file to the middle for them to see and pulling out another.

"Finally, they have test files. These go more in-depth on tests they were administering and tests they were finished testing. Like on the children's files, it explains the goals, objectives, the numbers of successes and failures, and a description. These ones are more detailed though and go on to explain ways they thought they could improve these tests and serums. Some of these files have stamps on them," He held up two examples, the first file having a large red stamp saying 'Failure' and the other saying 'Success'.

"And are finished getting any data. It's obvious what the stamps mean, and inside of stamped ones there's a note as to why it was deemed successful or a failure." Haruta finished, sliding the files into the middle as well.

"All of these notes and files date back to two days ago at the latest. There's nothing before that, not even a personal letter or note. Marco and I came to the conclusion that they must be systematically getting rid of their notes, or at least sending them off somewhere else. My guess would be the marines, but there's nothing we found to support that theory." Sabo said.

Finished explaining everything they found, the conversation moved on to Whiskey, everyone wanting to know how the kids were doing now that they were in the care of their resident nurses.

"Well, so far, it looks like everyone should be alright with no long-lasting issues. I don't know how long they've been there, but the worst child we had only has to recover from some malnutrition and dehydration. They all have unknown drugs in their systems, but if we can match the numbers on their wrists with the notes in those files we can know how to better treat them. Some need medicine that can only be administered through shots, but it's no surprise that they're all terrified of needles so we're having a difficult time figuring out how we're going to get them to cooperate." Whiskey said, reading over her notes carefully so she didn't miss anything.

"What happens if they don't get the shots?" Rakuyo asked, worried for the children.

"For some, not much. They might catch a disease, but there are a few who will undoubtedly grow very sick if they don't get them." Whiskey told them, making them all realize that they needed to figure out a solution to this problem sooner rather than later.

"Sabo and I could try talking to them." Ace suggested. He'd stewed in his anger when Haruta and Sabo were going over the files, and now that he'd calmed down he wanted to help the children as much as he could.

"That could possibly work. After all, you two, as well as Luffy, can relate to them in ways no one else can. After the meeting, we could go to the infirmary and figure something out." Whiskey said, Ace and Sabo agreeing. The meeting began to finish up after that, Whiskey saying a few final things and others asking some questions they had, and once it was finished, they dispersed, Ace and Sabo going with Whiskey while the others went to make sure they were on track to another island.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Back with Luffy and the kids in the infirmary, the food had arrived. The nurses were handing out bowls of soup to the children while Luffy twisted into a pretzel and pens spun in circles around him, kids laughing as they watched. This was how Ace, Sabo, and Whiskey found them.

"Uh, what's going on in here Luffy? And... are those pens floating?" Ace asked, eyeing the objects in disbelief.

"Ace, Sabo, Whiskey! Isn't it cool? Joyce has powers too! She can make things move- _with her mind!_ " Luffy said, returning his body to its normal sitting position with wide eyes and a bright smile.

"That's... surprising," Sabo said, blinking slowly as he tried getting over his shock. After all, he, Ace and Luffy had powers of their own, arguably weirder then moving things with their mind, so it really shouldn't be all that surprising that another child from a facility had something as well. The pens all stopped spinning at once, drifting back over to the desks they belonged to and settling there, unmoving, while a little girl- presumably Joyce- looked over to them shyly.

"But cool right?! Joyce, these are my older brothers Ace and Sabo, they've got powers too. Oh, and this is nurse Whiskey, she's really nice." Luffy told the girl as he bounced over to her bedside.

"H-hi," She greeted shyly, waving a bit. The three returned the smile, all waving back.

"Nurse Whiskey, here are the updated records!" Shirley said as she rushed over to the head nurse, handing her some files.

"Wait, but these are the ones who needed injections." Whiskey said in confusion, flipping through the files and seeing that it clearly stated the children had been given their shots.

"That's right, Luffy here was a really big help. He helped the children get their shots and even got one himself." Shirley said proudly, smiling to Luffy and patting him on the back.

"You did?" Ace and Sabo asked Luffy in unison, noticing the band-aid on their brother's arm. Normally, whenever they had to get shots, they went as a group. It was the only way they'd been able to cope with it, the three of them distracting the one getting the shot.

"Yup! I taught them my song about the islands and showed them how I sing it without looking, so it's not scary. I taught Lion how to do it first, cause she was really scared about it." Luffy explained. Luffy did have a habit of singing the ear-splitting song whenever they had to get shots, but it surprised them he'd willingly done it here by himself.

"Lion?" Sabo asked, wondering if that was one of the children's name. It was a strange name, but there was always a possibility Luffy was pronouncing it wrong or he'd come up with a nickname instead.

"Mm. Kara. She's brave, like a Lion, so her new name is Lion. I'm Rex, like a T-Rex, cause they're cool! Right Lion?" Luffy called, turning towards another bed where a girl looked up from her soup to Luffy.

"Right Rex!" She called back with a bright smile. Luffy turned back to look at them, still beaming.

"A lot of the bad feelings are gone now too." He added, clearly pleased with himself, and he had every right to be.

"Good job Lu." Ace praised with a smile of his own.

"Thank you, Luffy, for helping the children. Now we don't have to worry about anyone getting sick on our watch." Whiskey said gratefully as she closed the files in her hands, smiling to the youngest.

"You're welcome! Hey, Ace, Sabo, come on, you've gotta meet George! And Kianna! And Trevor! Oh, and there's also Yuki and Lyle, their siblings too." With all the ease of a baby giraffe, Luffy dragged the brothers off to meet child after child, all of them happy, if not a bit shy, to meet the two eldest brothers. It was obvious Luffy had said a lot about them because they were quizzed on their abilities and whether the nurses here really were nice, to which they assured they were.

Leave it to Luffy to bring smiles to children only hours after being released from hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Another long chapter for you guys! This one had a lot of information about facilities which is something we weren't able to get from the brothers' facility. A lot of it still doesn't make a lot of sense, but they know more than they did before.
> 
> Also, seeing as both in this story and in the anime Luffy is child like, I feel like he would be good with children. At the same time though, he's also extremely blunt and stubborn which wouldn't always mix well with kids. Either way, in this story, he's able to relate with these kids because of their shared experiences in facilities which is why they gravitated to him.


	94. The Mystery Ship

The next day the Moby was peacefully drifting through the open waters. They weren't quite sure where they were headed seeing as they're nearest protected territory was about a month away and they didn't think it would be a good idea to keep the children on board that long; not with the possibility of Marines finding out they'd taken down yet another facility and were harboring the children on their ship. Yonko or not, if the marines thought they could save face they would do their best to get these children away from them, even if that meant fighting them.

They could land on another island, one not under their protection, but there was no guarantee the civilians there would see these children and want to help them. The Marine propaganda over children with number tattoos on their wrist had reached the entire world by now- the hunt for them still going strong- and if the civilians found out they were harboring said children, they would most likely turn them in thinking they were dangerous.

The more Whitebeard thought on it, the more it seemed they were going to have to risk heading to their protected island. The people there would listen to him, understand that this crusade against innocent children was wrong and help them in any way they could. They may even help the children return to their homes, wherever that may be, but that would be asking too much. There were 20 children here, from all different parts of the world. Whiskey had asked them and answers varied between the blues and Paradise which was a long way from where they were in the New World.

He wanted to get the children back home, but there wasn't a feasible way to do it without risking the safety of everyone involved.

The children were doing well here on the Moby which was expected when they were under the care of their top-notch nurses. Whitebeard heard that Luffy had been quite a help in cheering the children up and making sure they got the necessary treatments. It made Whitebeard proud of his youngest son, to see him helping those in need without a second thought.

Luffy had told him many times that his dream was to be the Pirate King- it was a dream Whitebeard fully supported- and he knew one day, sooner then it seemed, his youngest would be leaving the ship. He'd only known Luffy and his brothers for a year, but he loved them just as much as he did any other child on his ship. He knew, once Luffy was released into this world, he was going to raise hell.

He laughed to himself as he took a swig from his mug- non-alcoholic per nurse's orders, but he wasn't going to let anyone know he spiked it- and hoped that Luffy caused all sorts of trouble for the damn Marines. They deserved it after everything Whitebeard had been learning about them.

He'd never been a supporter of the Marines- he was a pirate after all- but when there were pirates in this world that had better morals then the ones who called themselves the good guys, it made him question exactly what was going on in their heads. For them to be so quick to persecute children, innocent children who were victims of the marine's abuse of power, made him angrier then the time a rookie pirate had knocked their entire supply of alcohol overboard.

He took his alcohol seriously, as any pirate should.

Sighing, he wondered how he'd even gotten on this subject. Ah, yes, Luffy. He hoped Luffy threw those Marine's false sense of Justice right back in their faces.

"Pops, there's been a ship spotted!" Musings interrupted, Whitebeard looked to his son in curiosity.

"Have they been identified yet?" The Captain asked, taking another swig of his drink.

"No, Richard's been sent to get Ace. The ship itself isn't too big but they are headed right towards us." He said. Whitebeard nodded in understanding, glancing at the waters for any sign of this ship.

"Keep an eye on it. Tell everyone else to start preparing, but keep in mind that this could be nothing." He ordered, his son nodding and heading off to do as told. Whitebeard sat in silence, looking in his mug and realizing with dull amusement that it was nearly gone.

"And after I went through all the trouble of smuggling that alcohol into it." He muttered, right as a nurse walked over.

"What was that Oyaji?"

"Ah, nothing, just the musings of an old man."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"A ship? Ne, Ace, is it good or bad? Do we get to fight?" Luffy asked as he leaned over the railing where he and Ace had been told there was an incoming ship. Sabo was with Haruta, pouring over the files they'd gotten from the facility again, and Luffy and Ace had been practicing Luffy's ability to suppress others' emotions. Once they were told there was a ship Ace needed to identify though, the session had been put on hold.

"I'm not sure, its got unmarked sails and it doesn't look big enough to put up much of a fight against us. Curiel could probably take them all on single-handedly." Ace said as he examined the ship. Instead of pouting like Ace expected him to, Luffy looked over the railing in awe.

"A mystery ship!" He whispered, eyes wide at the prospect. Ace rolled his eyes at this bumping Luffy lightly.

"I don't think so Luffy. Its probably just a merchant or something, but I don't know why they would be heading our way." Ace said, confused as to why this small, unmarked ship was heading towards them. Was it just a coincidence that this unknown ship was appearing right after they'd rescued children from another facility? Hopefully, because if this happened to be doctors or marines, Ace couldn't promise to hold back all of his anger.

"I'll tell Pops." The man who'd told them about the ship said, already heading off to the Captain and leaving Ace and Luffy at the railing.

"Should I get Sabo? Maybe he wants to be here when the mystery ship gets here." Luffy suggested, knowing his brother could be as curious as him about certain things. Mystery ships were definitely one of them.

"Sure. Oi, Sabo, get your head out of those damn files and come out on the deck, Luffy's claiming mystery ship but I'm thinking it's a merchant. Come place your bets before it gets here." Ace said aloud, knowing his brother would hear. Luffy pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was gonna get him!" He whined, confusing Ace.

"What's the difference if I did it or you did it?" He asked, wondering what had Luffy so bummed about not being able to call Sabo over.

"You didn't make it sound cool! What if Sabo wants to keep reading or whatever because you made it sound boring?" He asked, making Ace glare at him in annoyance.

"You little twerp." He said, flicking Luffy on the forehead with a hint of haki to ensure his rubber abilities didn't cancel out the pain.

"Ow! Meanie!" Luffy said, sticking his tongue out at his brother, to which Ace returned it.

"Seriously? I can't even leave you two alone for a few seconds, let alone a few hours." Sabo said as he joined them.

"He started it." Luffy accused, almost habitually.

"No way, you definitely did!" Ace said, offended at the accusation. Sabo shook his head before hitting them both on the head. With haki.

Stupid devil fruit users.

"You're both idiots. Better?" Sabo asked.

"No one mentioned idiots." Ace said through gritted teeth as he rubbed his head and glared at Sabo, all while Luffy whined, calling them both mean.

"Oh, is that so? Huh, I guess I must have misheard." Sabo said with an innocent face as he looked off in another direction.

"Liar," Luffy whined, rubbing his head. Sabo smiled, dropping the act.

"In any case, where's this mystery merchant boat, hm?" He asked, stepping closer to the railing and looking out at the water.

"Over there. It's got unmarked sails and it's relatively small. Either an enormously stupid group of rookies or bounty hunters or just a randomly passing merchant ship. That doesn't explain why they're heading our way though." Ace said, looking carefully at the ship again for any way to identify it.

"Maybe they need supplies and are hoping we'd help? Strange that they'd willingly approach a Yonko's ship though." Sabo said with a thoughtful look. The ship was still just out of his vision, only those with spy glasses or enhanced vision could see it at the moment.

Whatever was the purpose of the ship, all anyone could do was wait until it got close enough to communicate with. A lot of people were on the deck, all of them wondering just who this mystery ship belonged to and what they wanted with them. There were many possibilities, they were pirates after all, but no one could figure out what was up with the unmarked ship.

Finally, it was close enough, and a call from the small ship made everyone curious.

"Permission to board?" It was a man's voice, gruff in its tone, but there wasn't any threat to the tone, just a mere asking. Everyone turned to Whitebeard wondering what his answer would be.

"Permission granted." He allowed, just as curious as his sons to figure out who this ship belonged to and what they wanted. Many had their weapons prepared, expecting things to go south and wanting to be prepared just in case.

Soon enough, there were two people climbing onto the Moby, a man and a woman. Anyone else who was on the boat remained there, and seeing there were only two people here, they became a little less guarded.

Looks could be deceiving though, so they would never completely lower their guard.

"Who are you, yoi?" Marco asked, stepping forward to meet them. One of them, the man, was a Fishman which was curious in of itself. The woman was a hundred percent human with bright orange hair and a smile on her face despite being on Whitebeards ship.

"My name is Hack. This here is my colleague Koala. We're here on behalf of the Revolutionary Army." The Fishman, Hack said. This surprised them all, wondering what exactly the Revolutionary Army wanted with them.

"Rebotionary Army? What's that?" Luffy asked from where he stood with Ace and Sabo.

"It's Revolutionary Army, Luffy. You know, the one run by Dragon." Sabo said, as surprised as everyone else that they were here. Was it because of Luffy? Did Dragon want to take his son back after all this time? A peek at Ace told him his brother was probably having similar thoughts as he shifted closer to Luffy, fists clenched.

"Oh, you mean my dad!" Luffy said with a smile, happy to make the connection. Sabo facepalmed, but really, he should have known Luffy would let that little tidbit slip.

"Yeah, Dragon, your dad... Wait!" Thatch said, everyone turning to Luffy, more surprised about this new detail than the fact that two members of the Revolutionary Army were on the ship.

"Good going Lu." Ace muttered with a sigh, shaking his head.

"Your dad is Dragon the Revolutionary?!" Namur asked, eyes wide at the idea.

"Yup. Wait, was I not supposed to say that? Oops." Luffy said, laughing at his mistake.

"Anyways, why are you two here? If it's to take Luffy back to his dad then you're out of luck." Ace said as he glared at the two, but was quick to note that they looked as surprised about Luffy's slip up than the rest of the crew.

"D-Dragon-San had a child?" Koala stuttered out, looking at Luffy carefully.

"I didn't even know he knew-" Hack stopped talking mid-sentence, clearing his throat.

"No, uh, we're not here for Dragons... _son._ By the way, I believe that is information that should not leave this ship." He said, everyone agreeing with that sentiment. It would bring even more unwanted attention to Luffy then he already had.

"We're here about the children you recently rescued. We were sent to liberate the facility code 293, but it seems you all beat us to it." Hack explained, making all of them cautious once more.

"Since when does the Revolutionary Army liberate facilities?" Blamenco asked, many having the same thought. They'd never seen anything about facilities being taken down since the brothers all that time ago.

"Since last year, when those three were pegged as mentally unstable children and given bounties. I guess it makes sense now why Dragon-san suddenly had such an interest in it seeing as his son had been in a facility." Koala said, speaking the last part to herself.

"We've liberated a half a dozen facilities in the past year. They're hard to find and even harder to get any information on. They're spread out all over the world, and when you three got out and it was discovered amongst the Army as to what facilities were, it tied into our main goal." Hack explained.

"And what will you do with the children?" Whitebeard asked, having been listening silently where he sat.

"Bring them home. They've been hurt enough and I'm sure all they want is to be returned to their families." Koala said, and Luffy could feel that she was being genuine. Whitebeard and the Commanders looked to Luffy, wanting to know the verdict on whether she was lying or not, to which he nodded.

"She's telling the truth." Koala and Hack gave him curious looks when it seemed the Captain accepted Luffy's words as fact.

"Will the children be given the proper medical treatment they need?" Whitebeard asked.

"Of course. We brought doctors along with us for that very reason." Koala said.

"Facility doctors?" Ace asked suddenly, a dark look on his face as he examined the two revolutionaries.

"No, just normal doctors." Hack answered this time. Again, there was a small pause as Luffy determined whether they were lying or not.

"Truth." Luffy felt the confusion in the two, but they didn't say anything about it.

"I'm assuming you want any information we may have found as well." Whitebeard continued.

"That would be helpful, yes." Hack said. The Captain nodded, turning to Haruta.

"Could you go and gather the files you've found? I believe it would be best to give it to the Revolutionaries." He told him. Haruta nodded before heading off to gather the papers, a little bummed he hadn't been able to read over it all yet.

"Marco, could you tell the nurses to prepare to transfer the children?" Whitebeard then asked the first commander, who also nodded and headed off.

"It will take some time, so you are welcome to stay on the Moby so long as you do not cause any trouble," Whitebeard told the two Revolutionaries as everyone began dispersing, eyeing the two as they left.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Hack said as he and Koala bowed to the man. With the mystery solved, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy began chatting amongst themselves again, Luffy claiming he was right in his mystery ship assumption while Ace tried explaining that he didn't win anything because they hadn't bet anything.

"Sabo, tell him he owes me three meals! All meat!" Luffy demanded, pointing to Ace who looked aghast.

"What?! No way, not with your black hole! Besides, we never bet anything!" Ace reiterated.

"Hm, well, a deal's a deal Ace," Sabo said, hands raised as if he couldn't do anything about it. Ace gave Sabo an incredulous look while Luffy beamed.

"Hah! See, Sabo said so so now you have to!" Luffy told Ace victoriously.

"I hate you." Ace growled quietly to Sabo, making Luffy laugh.

"Uh, hey, sorry to interrupt." The three looked over at the newcomer's voice, noticing that both Koala and Hack stood there, observing them.

"What do you guys want?" Ace asked, arms crossed as he eyed the two suspiciously. He still didn't trust them, especially now that they knew who Luffy's dad was.

"We were just curious about something. Well, a few things actually." Koala said.

"You're Dragons son?" Hack questioned, raising an eyebrow skeptically. Luffy could feel that the man didn't believe him and pouted.

"What's it matter? So what if he is?" Ace asked in Luffy's defense, moving closer to the youngest again. Sabo was close to doing the same, still unsure how he felt about the two as well.

"It's just, Dragon-san is a bit... well it's hard to believe he'd have a child is all," Koala said, giving a nervous laugh.

"We don't exactly have to defend his previous statement. Whether its true or not has no importance to what's happening right now." Sabo said, trying to get everyone to stop talking about this certain subject. It would be just their luck that the wrong person overhears and Luffy's got another thing held over his head by the world government.

"But-"

"Koala, he's right. What Dragon does in his, uh, _free time_ , is none of our business." Hack said, interrupting Koala who looked very much like she wanted to argue with Sabo. Luffy smiled to the Fishman, feeling the man's emotions change from disbelieving and skepticism into calm and knowing.

"Fine. Anyway, how did you know I wasn't lying? Earlier, I mean. And everyone just went along with it." Both Koala and Hack were curious about that, especially because it seemed to be second nature to the crew to look to the boy for confirmation.

"I felt it," Luffy said simply as if that was common knowledge.

"Felt it? Do you have a devil fruit?" Koala asked, even more confused now than before. Ace and Sabo shifted uncomfortably, wondering why Luffy was telling her about his abilities.

'What are you doing Lu?' Ace asked him through their silent language. Luffy glanced at his brother's moving fingers which caught Koala and Hacks attention. Both of them had noticed but ignored the tapping, thinking it was just the man fidgeting, but Luffy's attention to it made them think otherwise.

'Good people. Good colors.' Luffy replied, the two watching Luffy tapping now and Aces skeptical look.

'Doesn't mean you should tell them all of this.' Ace tapped back. Luffy seemed oddly confident in telling the two despite the fact that they knew nothing about them.

"Yup, the Gum Gum fruit. I'm a rubber man. That's not how I knew though." Luffy said, ignoring Aces tapping.

"Well then, how?" Hack asked. Luffy frowned.

"I just told you." He said in almost a whine, annoyed that they weren't listening. Despite his worry over the situation, Sabo laughed.

"What my little brother means to say is that, well, he has the ability to feel people's emotions, which in turn allow him to feel when someone is lying or not," Sabo said, earning a glare and a noise of disbelief from Ace.

"What? He was already trying to tell them." Sabo said with a shrug to the eldest.

"Woah woah woah, hold on there, _little brother?!_ And what do you mean, _'has the ability to feel people's emotions'?!_ " Koala asked in surprise while Hack watched with a mild look of curiosity.

"Calm down, Dragons not my father, and neither is he Aces before you start yelling again. We're not blood-related, but we are brothers. And it's as I said before, he can feel your emotions. He can feel everyone's emotions, even mine." Sabo told them.

"How?" Hack asked, oddly calm about it, just curious.

"Facility." It was all Ace had to say on the subject, because why not. Luffy and Sabo had already let the cat out of the bag and it was no question to these two what the facility was and what they did.

At least, he hoped.

As much as Luffy wanted to keep talking to the two- they were interesting and the girl made funny faces- a sudden wave of fear from the infirmary made him turn, frowning. Without a word he began walking off, leaving Koala sputtering and Hack more confused than before.

"Luffy?" Ace asked with a hint of worry, having seen the look on his brother's face.

"The kids are scared," Sabo said in answer to Ace's unspoken question, also turning to follow Luffy.

"And how do _you_ know that?!" Koala asked, getting frustrated at everything she didn't know about these three. The Revolutionary Army prided themselves on their extensive knowledge, so the fact that they knew next to nothing about these three so-called brothers made her more annoyed then she liked to admit. She was ignored though as the three brothers walked off, leaving the two Revolutionaries to follow after them.

They all walked into the infirmary together, Luffy taking the lead, and when they did they saw that many of the children looked scared; Marco and the nurses trying to calm them down.

"Rex! They said we're gonna go away! I don't want to, I wanna stay here with you guys!" Kara cried, tears in her eyes at the thought that, just after being saved, they were being taken away somewhere else again. Koala and Hack shared a confused look, Koala mouthing the name Rex to him and wondering who the child was talking to.

"They're good people Lion. They're gonna help you and take you home, back to your families." Luffy explained to her, smiling now despite the frown he'd worn only moments ago.

"B-but... what if they have bad doctors? And you and Sabo and Ace aren't there to help us?" She asked him quietly, obviously that being her biggest fear at the moment, most likely along with all the other children.

"Oi, Bear, do you have any bad doctors?" Luffy asked Koala, face serious as he looked at the Revolutionary who blinked in confusion.

"B-Bear?" Koala asked, almost speechless. She looked around, trying to figure out if Luffy was talking to her, and by Aces snickers and Sabo's exasperated sigh, he was.

"My name's Koala." She corrected, eyebrows furrowed. She couldn't figure out if she was mad he'd gotten it wrong or understanding because she hadn't really properly introduced herself to him. Actually, the only reason she knew his name was because the two others had said it.

"Bear, Koala, same thing. Do you have bad doctors? Facility doctors?" Luffy clarified, thinking better of his choice of words. Someone could easily say they didn't have bad doctors and mean it because they believed their doctors were good at what they did, whether those things were good or bad.

"No, of course not." She answered easily, trying not to fidget under Luffy's intense gaze. She remembered the earlier conversation, that Luffy could feel her emotions, feel her lies, and realized that must be what he was doing right now.

"She's not lying. They're going to help you and all the other kids." Luffy assured Kara, the girl sniffling as she looked over to Koala. Taking this as a time to introduce themselves, the two Revolutionaries stepped forward.

"Hi there. Lion-chan was it?" Hack asked, having heard Luffy call the girl that, but he'd also called Koala Bear, so there was a possibility that wasn't her real name. Regardless, the girl nodded, eyeing them cautiously.

"I'm Hack, and this is my friend Koala. We work for an organization that helps save kids like you." He explained, Luffy watching them as close as Kara was.

"We're going to get you all the help you need and make sure you all get home safely," Koala assured, smiling gently to the child. Luffy could feel Kara's fear start to fade away as she looked at Koala. Luffy smiled to her, ruffling her hair.

"Nothing to be scared about." He told her, noticing that a lot of kids were listening to them talk.

"You guys don't have to be scared. They're gonna take you home and get you guys help." Luffy told them, feeling their fear slowly dissipate like Kara's had.

"They seem to listen to him." Hack noticed, realizing that where the Whitebeards first commander and nurses were having difficulty convincing the children, Luffy had merely said a few words and calmed them all down.

"Luffy has a way with people. Besides, we know exactly what they're scared of." Sabo told him, smiling to his brother.

With the children calm and convinced, the nurses were able to prepare transferring the children. Most of them could walk as long as they had assistance, but there were a few who needed to be carried and even a couple that had to be transferred on gurneys.

Koala, Hack, Sabo, Ace, and Luffy all took it upon themselves to help, Koala helping two who needed assistance walk while the others gave piggyback rides to those who couldn't walk. It took a bit of time, but eventually all the children had been safely transferred and were resting in the revolutionaries infirmary.

"Thank you all for your help and cooperation." Hack said gratefully from where he and Koala stood on the Moby.

"As long as the children are alright, it was our pleasure," Whitebeard said with a smile. Luffy smiled as well, liking that these two seemed to genuinely want to help people.

"You two are good people. I like you." He said to them, many smiling at the words. Hack and Koala didn't understand the significance of the youngest's words, but everyone else did. Hack and Koala shared a look, having noticed that there seemed to be more meaning then it seemed behind the boy's words, and smiled back.

"We like you too Luffy. We'll tell Dragon-san you're doing alright." Koala said, remembering the fact that this was supposedly their leader's son. Maybe she should have been more respectful around him.

"Hold on, you guys have like, a super-secret base right? No one knows where it is?" Ace suddenly asked, as if he'd just had an idea. The two Revolutionaries gave him curious looks but nodded slowly.

"Yes, that happens to be the case." Hack said cautiously.

"And if you had something- say a devil fruit that needed to stay hidden and untouched- you could make that happen. Right?" Ace continued, many catching on to what he was asking.

"We could," Koala confirmed. They watched as Ace looked to Whitebeard, the man also seeming to be thinking hard about something. Luffy was frowning now, knowing what they were talking about as well and trying to ignore the dark fruit on their ship. He'd been doing relatively well in ignoring it as of late, but there was always that mass of darkness just trying to have a hold on him.

"Would you two mind if we asked a favor of you?" Whitebeard asked, piquing the two's interest.

"Depends on what the favor is," Hack said, still cautious.

"You see, we had an incident not too long ago now. As a result, we became in possession of what we have good reason to believe is a devil fruit that no one should eat." Whitebeard began explaining.

"It's bad," Luffy said, shivering minutely. Hack and Koala watched, curiosity rising as they listened. They'd only known Luffy for a short time, but they knew that due to the facility he had powers they had never worked with before, and everyone else seemed to take his powers seriously, so they probably should too. If he said it was bad, it probably was.

"You want us to keep it safe and uneaten." Hack guessed, Whitebeard nodding.

"Yes, if you can," Whitebeard said, everyone watching to see what the verdict would be. Koala and Hack shared another look before he sighed.

"We'll have to ask Dragon first." He said, to which Whitebeard nodded again.

"Of course. If you cannot do this we understand." He told them. Hack nodded, pulling out a den den and heading over to their own ship, leaving Koala alone with the Whitebeards.

"Do you know what kind of devil fruit it is?" She asked Luffy, Ace and Sabo, the closest ones to her.

"It's dark," Luffy muttered with a frown, looking over to the doors leading below deck. Koala followed his eyesight, deciding that was most likely where the fruit was being held.

"Dark? Like, its powers?" She questioned, not sure what Luffy meant.

"The fruit itself is dark is what he means. And no, before you ask, not it's color. As mentioned before, Luffy can feel people's emotions, as well as two other emotions we're not entirely sure of. Warmth and darkness. Bad people have the darkness, and this fruit, according to Luffy, has a lot of darkness." Sabo explained.

"But, wait, its a devil fruit. He can feel emotions from a devil fruit?" Koala asked. Sabo sighed, shrugging.

"We're not quite sure how it works either. We weren't exactly given a manual on our abilities." He said. Koala nodded in understanding before her eyes widened and she turned to face him.

"Wait, _our_ abilities?! You two have them too?!" She asked incredulously, Sabo grinning slyly to her and Ace snickering.

"Yes, however, they're not the same as Luffy. We all have different abilities." Sabo told her.

"What are they? Is that how you knew the kids were scared in the infirmary?" She asked, but Sabo said nothing on that subject.

"Hack is returning." He said without turning, confusing Koala when she saw that the Fishman wasn't there.

"What do you-" Before she could finish her sentence, Hacks head popped over the railing as he climbed the rope ladder. She narrowed her eyes at the still grinning blonde, annoyed that he was purposely not telling her the information she wanted to know. Sure, it could be brushed off as knowing haki, but by the look on his face, Koala suspected it had to do with these, 'abilities' of his. Ace was still laughing, and Luffy had joined in now too, thoughts of the devil fruit gone.

"Dragon has said that he will ensure the fruit stays hidden and uneaten. He told me to tell you he is returning the favor." Hack said, not entirely sure what favor Whitebeard had done Dragon but having a few guesses as he looked over to Luffy.

"I understand. Kingdew, would you mind getting the devil fruit?" He asked, Kingdew leaving to do as told.

"What are your names, anyway? I know Luffy, but you two have yet to introduce yourselves." Koala said as they waited, talking to Ace and Sabo. The three of them were still grinning at her, but the mischief was gone from them.

"You haven't seen our wanted posters?" Ace asked in a tone of disbelief. Most everyone had and when they had the misfortune of stepping onto an unknown island they were always given looks of fear for being the 'monsters' that they were.

"I have, but when I saw them it was before they'd ever put your actual names on them. I've been a bit busy with liberating facilities to keep up with updated bounty posters." Koala admitted, knowing she should have kept up to date, regardless of her work. It was her job to have information on the world, and she was severely lacking.

She was still new to this though, even if it has been five years since she joined the Revolution.

"Well then, I'm Sabo, and these are my brothers Ace and Luffy. It's nice to officially meet you." Sabo said politely, taking off his hat and gesturing to his brothers as he introduced them. Ace gave a half-wave while Luffy beamed and waved enthusiastically to them.

"Likewise." Hack said with a nod of his head.

"Here you go." Kingdew suddenly said beside them, holding a small chest in his hands. Luffy's smile dropped as he eyed the box, stepping away from it and closer to Ace and Sabo instead.

"Thank you. We'll be sure it's hidden away." Hack assured again as he took the chest, he and Koala both noticing Luffy's reaction to it.

Finally, it was time for the Revolutionaries to leave. Devil fruit, children and information on the facility all retrieved, they readied their small ship to set sail and with a short farewell, they were gone. Luffy stayed at the railing for a while, feeling the darkness that had hovered like a cloud over the Moby slowly drift away.

Thatch was safe, they had rescued children from a facility, and the dark devil fruit was gone. Things were looking up despite the fact that with all those goods was the bad. Thatch was safe, but Teach had attacked, the facility was taken down, but that came with the knowledge that there were more facilities out there, and the devil fruit was gone, but now they had no way of keeping an eye on it.

With good comes bad, and vice versa. All Luffy could do was be grateful that everyone he loved was still safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> More information is out! The Revolutionary Army is also working to take down facilities, and everyone knows Luffy's father is the leader himself; Dragon. This chapter, like the others in this arc so far, was a lot of fun to write.
> 
> Luffy's lie detecting ability was show cased in this chapter, and with it, the fact that the crew accepts it and even looks to him for confirmation on whether things are true or not. It's just another way of showing how accepted the brothers are on the Whitebeard's ship and how much everyone trusts them. After 90+ chapters, it's still so nice to see the brothers open up and accept others into their small family circle.
> 
> Not only that, but we've finally found a good place to keep the infamous fruit that nearly cost Thatch his life. I knew I didn't want to have it stay on the ship, and I knew I didn't want to have anyone on board eat it, so I was a little lost on what to do with it for a while. The stars aligned though, and when I planned up to Koala and Hack's visit, I had the epiphany of having them bring the fruit back to their base. After all, as Ace said, their base is super secret and if anyone could keep something hidden and safe, it would be the Revolutionaries.


	95. The Aftermath

Another two weeks passed by slowly on the Moby as they sailed through relatively calm waters. News had spread that, once again, a group of children had escaped a mental facility, all of it orchestrated by Ace, Sabo, and Luffy which caused an increase in their bounties. It was no surprise to anyone that that was what the Marines came up with to save face, but it didn't mean it wasn't annoying to see the blatant lies and cover-ups.

As planned before they had saved the children the Moby was heading to another island, also not under their protection. They'd hit some rocky waters, and the weather hadn't been particularly nice which set them back, but now they were nearly there.

Despite the bad weather and delays, Luffy had never been happier. The devil fruit was finally gone, and with it, all the darkness that had radiated off of it, suffocating the Moby. The ship was lighter now, and even if there was bad weather, Luffy felt like it was lighter.

Now, the weather was cleared up, the waters were calm, and the newest island was in the distance.

Docking was being prepared and Luffy knew he should be helping- Ace and Sabo were after all- but he was too excited. Every new island, every new adventure, was just as exciting as the last. It would never get old to him, so instead of helping as he should, he sat on the railing, legs swinging off the side of the Moby as he smiled ear to ear and gripped the railing with both hands to keep steady.

"Oi, Luffy, come on and help." Ace called over, rolling his eyes as he did. Luffy turned to look at his brother, still beaming, and laughed.

"In a minute!" He called back, wanting to watch the island for a moment more. Behind him, Ace grumbled and Sabo told him he should expect this by now, but Luffy ignored them both, basking in the sun, in the happiness, in the light.

It took him another five minutes, which Ace was sure to scold him for, but he eventually got down off the railing and helped get ready. Whitebeard was radiating his usual warmth as he watched over them all, and that was almost as good as sitting on the railing for Luffy as he walked by the Captain. Finally, the darkness was gone from the Moby, both fruit and Teach, and all that remained was the warmth, the love, the happiness.

He laughed to himself as he continued working.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Luffy's been in a good mood lately, hm?" Sabo asked as he and Ace walked leisurely through the small village on the island. It was one of seven villages on the medium-sized island, each village bigger than the last. They were in the smallest of the villages, deciding that would be best so there weren't too many people scared.

"You've got that right. He's been smiling all day. All week really. Even during that storm." Ace said with a sigh, though he was smiling.

"It's probably got to do with that devil fruit being gone. There's no more darkness around." Sabo suggested. Ace nodded beside him, the two going silent now as they walked.

Aces division had been sent to do the restocking this time. They were still high in supplies from the last island so only one division was necessary to grab supplies, and per the rotation, Aces division was next to do the one-man restocking. Of course, with the facility being liberated they needed more food and medical supplies, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle on their own.

Ace had split up the division into groups, each in charge of getting its own list of things, and he, Sabo and Luffy were in charge of grabbing some more wood for some minor repairs. The Moby was a strong ship, but even she had suffered some minimal damage during the storm they had sailed through.

Of course, Ace and Sabo were just fine with gathering the supplies, Luffy too even; however, the youngest had been in such a good mood that he'd rocketed himself off ahead of his brothers, and if it weren't for Sabo's hearing they would have been in more of a rush to chase after him. As it was now, Sabo could hear him talking to a few people- from the sounds of it children- and entertaining them as he waited for Ace and Sabo to catch up to him.

"Have you talked to Whiskey? About... you know?" Ace suddenly asked, breaking the peaceful silence. Sabo sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"A little. You?" Sabo asked, watching as Ace began kicking a pebble along the path. His brother shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"A little." He said, repeating Sabo's words.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Sabo asked, wondering why his brother would have mentioned the facility if he didn't seem to have much to say about it. Ace was quiet a minute longer, and Sabo was ready to let the conversation drop altogether before Ace spoke again.

"I told Whiskey about the rooms the kids were being held in, the ones with the beds and stuff." Ace started with a frown, not looking at Sabo. The blonde nodded, staying quiet to let his brother continue.

"She asked me how it made me feel and stuff, and I admitted that I was kind of jealous that they had beds and rooms and we had a shitty cell and the floor." Ace continued. As he talked Sabo made sure that no one was paying too close attention to them, but everyone around them was minding their own business.

"Which is stupid cause those kids were still hurt and I was jealous they got to sleep in a bed at night." Sabo frowned at his brother's words but again remained silent.

"Whiskey said that it was alright that I felt jealous, or angry, or even happy, cause they were my feelings and I was starting to figure out how to pinpoint what I was feeling and why I was feeling it. She told me I had a right to be jealous, that what was done to us, to the other children, was wrong and she wouldn't be surprised if every child that was in the facility with us- our facility- felt the same way as I did." He said, trailing off at the end. There was another moment of silence as Sabo thought over his brother's words, trying to find a response. It wasn't often they talked about these things with each other, even though they knew they could, and he was actually happy that Ace was talking to him rather than keeping all these thoughts and emotions inside.

"I didn't see the rooms myself, but when you and Luffy told me about them, honestly, I kind of felt a bit jealous myself. It didn't seem fair that, as you said, we got a hard cold floor and the kids there got beds and pillows. Even a window." Sabo admitted, sighing.

"I think the thing I was most jealous of was the fact that they had windows. I would have killed for one of those in our cell." Sabo said, voice soft now. Ace scoffed beside him.

"Me too. Of all the things to be jealous of, we're jealous of a bunch of tortured kids getting a tiny window." The eldest said with a dry chuckle. Sabo laughed along with him, smiling now.

"I'm glad you got me to start talking to Whiskey." Ace said eventually, also smiling slightly.

"Oh? That's quite a change from when we were arguing to the point that Luffy had to leave the room." Sabo said, though there was no malice as he spoke, merely poking fun at his brother. Ace picked up on this and rolled his eyes, bumping shoulders with the blonde.

"You should know me by now. I wasn't going to talk to some nurse about the facility willingly. I had to fight about it first." Ace said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, and make my life harder as a result," Sabo replied, bumping shoulders back.

The conversation dropped now as they turned the corner and found Luffy there, drawing on the ground with two kids who looked to be siblings, a boy, and a girl.

"And this is the dragon that took the princess!" The boy said, drawing with a green piece of chalk.

"Can it breathe fire?!" Luffy asked animatedly, obviously enthralled in the drawings.

"Duh!" The boy said, smiling as well as he drew what Ace and Sabo guessed were wings.

"And the princess was taken to a castle! In the tower where shes waiting for the prince to save her!" The girl said, drawing said castle out of purple chalk, a princess esque drawing inside one of the castle windows. The little girl looked around four and the boy couldn't have been older than 6.

"Well, the prince could bring a big sword and wear this cool armor!" Luffy suggested, drawing as he spoke. The children watched in awe, amazed at the idea and nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah, and he has to have a horse too! To ride into battle!" The boy added.

"And he has to have a crown! Because he's a prince!" The girl said.

"Luffy's oddly good with kids." Ace said as he and Sabo watched their brother play with the two who were much younger than him.

"He's practically a kid himself, teenager or not," Sabo said with a laugh. Luffy seemed to finally notice their presence now, looking up at them and waving.

"Ace, Sabo! You caught up!" Luffy said, the two kids looking up in surprise at the two.

"Yeah, and how many times do we have to tell you not to rocket ahead of us?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"But it's fun! And faster. You two are slowpokes." Luffy said with a pout.

"Either way, we should go and get the supplies now. You said you wanted to go look at the other villages too, right Lu? If we take too long we won't even get to see the nearest one today." Sabo said, Luffy's eyes widening as he realized this.

"Right! See you two later!" Luffy said, standing and waving to the children.

"Bye Luffy!" They said with a smile as they waved back.

The three brothers began their walk together now, heading towards the shops they would need to visit. Luffy rambled to his older brothers about Layla and Cain, the two children, and told them that they had been fighting when Luffy landed on the street. He had talked to them and before he knew it they were all drawing with the chalk and making up a story about a princess. They'd made up a few other stories, but they were more focused on the princess one out of them all.

"So what did you guys do?" Luffy asked once he was done telling them about his mini-adventure. Ace and Sabo shared a look before the blonde looked to Luffy again.

"We were talking. About the facility and our talks with Whiskey." Sabo said truthfully. There wasn't any need to hide it from the youngest, so he didn't.

"Oh," Luffy said, looking to be thinking about something.

"Hey Luffy, how have you been? You know, since we've been to the other facility?" Ace asked gently, slowly. He didn't want to force his brother into talking about it if he didn't want to, but he and Sabo were both genuinely curious. They hadn't been able to figure out how their brother was feeling on the whole situation and it was disconcerting to them.

"Me? I don't know..." Luffy admitted, looking to the ground.

"I was scared, cause there was another facility, but then I was mad at the doctors," Luffy said, trying to figure out how he had felt. It was hard sometimes, for him to figure out what were his emotions and what were other peoples emotions. Was he happy because he was actually happy right now? Or was he happy because someone nearby was happy and he just didn't realize it? It was unpleasant to always feel everyone else's emotions as well as your own.

"What about afterward? After we got the children out. Now. Are you alright?" Sabo asked.

"I... think so. I don't feel sad anymore, or scared, or angry. I'm happy right now." Luffy told them, thinking hard so he could answer truthfully.

"That's good. If you don't feel happy you can talk to Sabo or I. Anytime. You know that, right?" Ace asked, ruffling Luffy's hair as he spoke.

"Mm." Luffy hummed in agreement, smiling to the two. They smiled back, letting silence take over once more. Another few minutes later they were walking into the main shopping district of the town and made a beeline for the shop they knew they needed to be in. Supplies were purchased quickly, Sabo and Ace knowing exactly what they needed to get while Luffy was there to help carry it all back to the Moby.

With each brother holding a box of their purchases they began the walk back to the Moby, chatting aimlessly about the going-ons of the crew, news they'd heard, or what they thought the chefs might make for lunch. There was a small debate over whether they would even be there for lunch, Ace and Luffy thinking it would be more fun to go to the next town and eat there while Sabo thought they may as well stay and eat on the Moby seeing as it'd be about lunchtime when they got back.

All in all, the three had a peaceful walk through the village, and even though they weren't exploring the island and going on adventures, they were still having fun and making memories.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

The three didn't end up staying for lunch on the Moby. Luffy and Ace had outvoted Sabo and it was decided they would spend their allowances on food at the next village. They wouldn't be staying on the island long, this was merely a supply run and they would probably be gone by tomorrow, so they wanted to get in all the exploration they could.

The two villages were relatively close together, and within a half-hour, they were within the neighboring village, smiles on their faces and stomachs rumbling in anticipation. As Ace and Sabo began discussing whether they wanted to go to some stalls and eat as they walked or go inside somewhere, Luffy smelled something particularly delicious, his mouth watering at the smell. He hadn't meant to wander off without telling his brothers- after all, he'd just gotten in trouble earlier for rocketing ahead of them, he didn't want to get into more trouble- but the smell was so tempting that he found himself changing direction and going right towards it.

Ace and Sabo continued walking down the street, unaware that Luffy had just drifted behind them and made a right down a side street, following his nose and nothing else. By the time they did notice, they had already gotten to the heart of the village, and when they turned to get Luffy's opinion on where to eat they were left blinking at the empty spot behind them.

"He's like a ninja or something," Ace muttered, slightly surprised Luffy had left without them noticing.

"I blame Ruta entirely for that," Sabo said, pinching his nose and closing his eyes as he tried listening for where they're brother could be.

"Sounds like he followed his nose. Literally. He's in a bar or something, I'm not really sure." Sabo said, walking off in their brother's direction. Ace followed, trusting that Sabo knew where he was going, and laced his hands together behind his head.

"Maybe we should put a bell on him. That way you'd hear him walking off." Ace suggested with a chuckle to himself.

"Or a leash. He can't walk off at all that way." Sabo said. Ace nodded in agreement at that idea.

"Hey, at least he found somewhere we can eat." The eldest said with a shrug, looking at the bright side of things. It could be annoying when Luffy wandered off without a word, but it was just something he did.

In another few minutes, they were walking into what was definitely a bar, Luffy sitting in a stool at the bar itself, shoveling a plate of food into his mouth. The bartender was cleaning a glass as he watched Luffy with a raised eyebrow, a slightly amused expression on his face.

"Luffy, we just had a conversation on wandering off." Ace said sternly as he and Sabo walked up. Luffy turned to look at them, cheeks full of food as he smiled at them.

"Ashe! Shabo!" Luffy said through his mouthful. Sabo was about to scold Luffy for once again talking with his mouthful, and he and Ace hadn't even sat down when a woman came running out from the back, eyes wide. She caught everyone's attention and they all watched as she scanned the room, which was empty except for them seeing as it was still relatively early in the day. The second she spotted them, Luffy still shoveling in the food, her eyes grew wider- if that was even possible- and she rushed over, placing a hand on Luffy and stopping him from eating.

"How much of this did you eat?!" She asked worry and fear on her face. Ace and Sabo frowned, realizing that something might be wrong with the food, but Luffy looked unalarmed. He tilted his head, thinking.

"A lot." He said, moving to begin eating again.

"Wait- hold on, you can't eat it!" She said, trying once again to stop Luffy, which only made him annoyed.

"Why not?" Ace asked, watching both the woman and food carefully.

"Because- well... the guys in the back, they-"

"Poisoned it," Luffy told them with such nonchalance it made both the woman and bartender blanch at them.

"You knew that?! And you still ate it?!" She asked in shock, stumbling away from him. Luffy began eating the food again, nodding.

"You do know you'll have to see Whiskey after this. She'll be pissed if she somehow hears you ate poison and didn't at least go for a check-up." Sabo said with a sigh as he sat beside his brother. There was a wave of burning anger in him at whoever served his brother poison, but he knew it wasn't going to have an effect on him so he was able to curb it for now.

Ace on the other hand...

"I'm gonna kill 'em." The eldest growled out, a scowl on his face as his eyes moved to the door that most likely led to the kitchen.

"But they made me good food!" Luffy whined in an attempt at stopping his brother.

"Food that they _poisoned!_ " Ace yelled back to him, giving his brother an incredulous look.

"To be fair, we are wanted," Sabo noted, understanding why it had been done, but not liking it either.

"Hold on a minute! He's eating the food! The poison!" The woman said, pointing to the meal that was nearly gone.

"Yes, he is, and he'll be fine. Our brother has a bit of a, uh, iron stomach." Sabo said, searching for the right words. After Luffy's literal death in the facility he'd grown an extremely high tolerance to poison, and unless the poison itself was extremely lethal, it wouldn't hurt him. Seeing as their bounties were alive only, Sabo was willing to bet that whatever poison the cooks had used, it was non-lethal, and thus, wouldn't harm Luffy in the slightest.

"A-are you sure?" The bartender asked worry etched into his features as he also watched Luffy eat.

"Forget that you're going to have to hire some new chefs." Ace said, bringing the attention back to him as they watched him march into the back. Sabo rubbed his temple but didn't stop him, knowing it would be useless.

"Aw, I wanted more food before Ace beat 'em up," Luffy said with a pout, shoveling the last few forkfuls into his mouth all at once.

"We'll grab more food on the way back to the Moby, how about that? Best we get there sooner rather than later now that Whiskey needs to look you over." Sabo said, both he and Luffy ignoring the screaming coming from the back, as well as the two behind the bar, still staring with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Yosh! Ace, hurry up! We have more food to eat!" Luffy shouted over the screaming.

"How much for the food?" Sabo asked the bartender. The man blinked a few times, trying to rid himself of his shock.

"N-nothing, it's free of charge." He eventually managed to stutter out.

"Are you sure? We'd- well, I would be fine with paying." Sabo said, knowing Ace would refuse to pay, and with good reason.

"No, I-I couldn't ask you to pay, not when your food was poisoned." He said, seemingly over the shock now as he denied Sabo's money. The blonde shrugged, patting the pouch of money at his side.

"Suit yourself. Come on Ace, we have to go see Whiskey now and it's another half hour back to the Moby!" Sabo called to his brother, he and Luffy both standing from their stools and heading to the doors.

"Hold on, I'll be there in a second!" Ace called back, and within a few seconds, a man was flying through the door that led to the back, crashing into a table and staying down. Ace emerged after, grin on his face and fire licking his shoulders as he placed his hat back on his head.

"Alright, I'm done." He said, looking pleased with himself as he began walking up to them. The bartender and woman watched the three as they began chatting amongst themselves, all smiles and laughs now as if the littlest of them hadn't just eaten a whole plate of food that had been laced with poison.

"R-remember that report that called them monsters?" The woman asked in a whisper. The bartender nodded mutely beside her.

"I think it was pretty accurate." He said, picking up another glass and beginning cleaning it.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Hello boys, how was your trip?" Whitebeard asked as the brothers walked back on board the Moby, sticks with meat on them in their hands.

"Good!"

"Luffy got poisoned."

"I beat up some guys who poisoned Luffy."

The responses were simultaneous, and many on deck did a double-take at the nonchalance of their words.

"Wait, wait, wait, Luffy was _poisoned?!_ " Thatch asked from where he'd been resting, sitting against the rail.

"Yup! The food was good though, so it was fine." Luffy said with a shrug, the brothers still walking as if it was no big deal.

"Is he alright?" Atmos asked in worry; he, and Thatch beginning to follow the brothers in an attempt at getting answers.

"Yeah, we never mentioned it before, but Luffy has a high tolerance to poisons. He's fine, but Whiskey'll kill us if we don't let her do a check-up, so that's where we're headed now." Sabo said, the three saying they'd be back soon before they walked into the Moby.

Everyone could only stare at the door the brothers had entered in shock.

All in all, it was another normal day on the Moby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> A more laid-back chapter for you all today. After all the angst and drama of the past few chapters, we needed some bright happy moments to lift us all up. Even if there was an attempt at Luffy's murder in this happy chapter. Even when it's a calm day on the Moby, it isn't.
> 
> We're transitioning out of the final arc now and moving on to the wrap-ups for this story. So far, I've only got 5 more chapters planned and this story will end on it's 100th chapter. Like always, the end of a story is sad, and I still have a lot I want to say, but as I've said before, I'll leave those thoughts for the final chapter.
> 
> The facility they liberated has taken a toll on the brothers, but this time they have Whiskey and each other to help them get through it. It brought up bad memories, trauma and mixed emotions, but now they know how to manage all of this in non-destructive ways. They don't have the same paranoia, anger, or fear like they used to have in the beginning.


	96. The Passing of Time

Staring up at the stars in the night sky, Sabo couldn't help but feel calm. Even with all of the thoughts running through his mind, all the worries and anxieties, the fear; even with all of that, he still had the stars to keep him calm, keep him grounded.

It was the middle of the night, and he knew he should be sleeping- he would regret this in the morning- but his mind was too busy to let him sleep. It frustrated him to the point that he had to go and sit on the Moby's deck for fear of waking Luffy up with his strong emotions, or even worse, causing the youngest to have a nightmare because he was unknowingly and subconsciously influenced by the blonde's fear and anxiety.

After everything with the second facility, the memories, the doctors, the sounds, and worst of all, finding out Haru was still around, Sabo couldn't stop the voice in the back of his head telling him that at any minute he would turn around and the horrible 'doctor' would be standing there, ready to take him to another one of his tests.

He took a deep breath and tried to push that image from his mind, refocusing back on the stars.

The Revolutionaries had come and taken both the children and the devil fruit that they'd all been worried about- which was a plus- but with them, they also took all of the information they had on the facility.

Well, almost all of it. Sabo wasn't going to let Haru's file go, not even if it meant angering the army Luffy's dad was in charge of. He had Marco keep the file in his room, worried that if he kept it in his own Ace or Luffy would find it. Of course, it was only a matter of time until they stumbled upon it, no matter how well he hid it, and then they would know Haru was back too. He knew that he should tell them about the doctor, tell them that he was back, but he couldn't bring himself to. It would cause them so much pain, so much unnecessary fear, that he wanted to avoid telling them at all costs.

If they found out about Haru from someone else and realize he hadn't told them, that would be just as bad though. What if they managed to find the file? Or Marco gives and tells them himself? Or, worse of all, they see Haru in person?

He took in another shaky breath, trying to ease the shaking in his hands by running his fingers through his hair. It didn't work.

Like he had been before, he would ignore it and hope he never had to worry about it. What were the chances that they ran into Haru? Marco was a good man, he wouldn't tell Luffy and Ace without at least consulting him first. And he could hide one measly file from his brothers, how hard could that be?

Sure, he'd agreed to tell his brothers eventually, but why couldn't eventually be decades from now? When none of this mattered anymore? Preferably when Haru was long dead.

One last sigh and Sabo decided that he should at least go and give sleeping another attempt. It hadn't come easy in the past few weeks, but maybe his luck would turn around.

Getting up, he waved goodnight to the passing patrol and headed back towards his shared room. He, not for the first time, envied Aces night vision as he hugged the wall in an attempt to not lose his way in the dark hall, but soon he was opening their door, knowing it was there's only from the sounds of his snoring brothers inside.

Well, brother was more like it.

"Where were you?" Ace asked, and Sabo could tell he'd probably only just woke up, his words all said with a slight slur and his voice groggy.

"Outside. I couldn't sleep." Sabo replied truthfully, stumbling to the bed without too much difficulty.

"Mm. Nightmares?" Ace asked, laying back down from the sounds of it. Sabo took his boots off before getting into the bed and laying down as well.

"No, thinking too much." He answered, staring blindly towards the ceiling.

"You're good at that." Ace said with a yawn, rolling over in the bed. The blanket was pulled a little as Ace tugged it, and Sabo tugged back, not willing to lose any more of the warm cover then he'd already had.

"I'm taking that as a compliment," Sabo grumbled as he rolled onto his side as well.

"You shouldn't."

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Months went by and Sabo was able to mostly push Haru from his mind. On some days he was even lucky enough not to think about the man at all.

At the beginning of the year the crew had held a New Year party while Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, along with the Commanders celebrated Ace's birthday, and on Sabo's birthday, the 20th of March, there was another similar get together. Ace and Sabo didn't want big parties or a bunch of presents, heck, Ace didn't even want to celebrate at all, so just the small get together was more than enough for them.

When it came to May 5th, however, it became a bit... crazy.

Luffy, the youngest of all the crew members, had a birthday on May the 5th, Children's Day, and of course, Luffy was not opposed to parties one bit. Thatch took it upon himself to bake the celebratory cake, big enough that Luffy was able to have plenty and there would still be enough for the rest of the crew, and some of the crew members would get the teen some small gifts. Not everyone did, which was understandable because if every single person on the crew bought Luffy a present it would be overkill and there would be no more space for the brothers in their room, but there were still quite a few who did.

With as many crew members as there was on the Moby, it was inevitable that there would be overlapping birthdays, as well as birthdays nearly every week in the year, so it wasn't a surprise that there were two other crew mates with their birthdays on the same day. However, they weren't opposed to letting Luffy be the center of attention for the day. They got their own specialized cupcakes from Thatch like everyone always got on their birthdays, and they got congratulations as well as a few gifts from their closer friends and crew mates, but for the most part, the attention was on Luffy.

Of course, the youngest adored the attention. He loved being the center of everyone's affection, he loved food, and he loved the gifts everyone would give him.

He'd never really celebrated his birthday before. Back on his home island- before he met Ace and Sabo- he remembered the few birthdays he had in the village where Makino would bake him a cake and give him a present, usually new clothes or shoes, and that would be that. It was small, it was quiet, and honestly, a little lonely. As much as he loved Makino and appreciated those birthdays with her, he could remember being lonely over the fact that it was just the two of them. His Grandpa was rarely around, much less for his birthday, and none of the other village kids ever wanted to play with him, which meant he'd had no friends.

It was lonely, but he still loved the memory of Makino cheering him up.

After he'd met Ace and Sabo, they'd only had the chance to celebrate his and Sabo's birthday before they'd been taken, and they'd done it the same way they did every day; hunted, sparred, and stole money for their pirate fund. Once they'd been taken, they hadn't really been able to celebrate, and they hadn't even been able to keep track of days to figure out if it was even their birth month. They would still tell each other happy birthday when they felt enough time had passed for it to be that time again, but they couldn't know for sure whether they'd even done it in the right season.

Now, though? He had all these people surrounding him, he knew for sure it was his birthday, and he could actually enjoy the day for what it was. It was a fantastic feeling, and he enjoyed every second of it.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Nineteen. Ace and Sabo were both nineteen now. Luffy was already sixteen.

It was the day after Luffy's party, and Ace couldn't quite believe how much time had passed since they had gotten out of the facility.

Leaning against the arm of Whitebeards chair, he watched Luffy catapult himself, mop in hand, to the upper deck so he could swab it, Sabo running after him and yelling at him not to rocket himself when he's mopping the deck.

Ace couldn't help but smile as he watched them. Even though Sabo seemed angry, he was smiling soon enough, and Luffy had been laughing the entire time. It was a stark contrast to only a few years ago when they were dirty, cold, hungry, in pain, tired, scared-

Focusing on the clouds, Ace stopped that train of thought, knowing it would do him no good to think about those things right now. He and his brothers had done a pretty good job at managing their memories of the facility with Whiskey's help. It was easier to stop themselves from getting sucked into the memories; the emotions.

Watching a cloud slowly change its shape, Ace let his mind wander onto other things.

In just the short, yet long, amount of time they'd been with the Whitebeards, so much had happened. The brothers were getting help, Ace was a commander, and Luffy was only a year away from setting sail and pursuing his own dream of becoming the Pirate King. He had loudly exclaimed it during his party yesterday when someone asked what his dream was. Unlike when they were kids, Luffy hadn't shouted his dream to everyone he met, so many didn't even know about his goal to become the King, but after yesterday, they did. He'd gone around, all smiley, and announced to anyone who would listen that he was going to leave at seventeen and become the Pirate King. He'd even told Whitebeard that that meant he would come back and fight him, to which everyone, including Whitebeard, laughed.

Ace and Sabo had watched with nostalgic smiles, realizing for the first time that they'd sorely missed Luffy telling anyone and everyone his dreams, even if they did tell him how annoying it was.

Watching his youngest brother as he hit Sabo with his mop, soaking the blonde, another fond smile crossed Ace's face.

If anyone could become the Pirate King, he knew it would be his little brother.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Two whole years the brothers had been out of the facility, and in that time, Garp had yet to visit. It wasn't surprising, after all, he'd barely visited the brothers when they were on an island, and now that they were on a well-known pirate ship? It made it even more difficult for the man to visit, which the brothers had no qualms with.

Honestly, they'd forgotten the man had even promised he would visit, and that was their first mistake.

Their second was being out in the open when he did arrive.

"Where are my shitty grandsons?!" The three hadn't even had a chance to go and hide before their terrifying grandfather laid his eyes on them.

"There you three are! Do you see these bounties?! You three are notorious criminals!" The three were barely even listening, the blood pounding in their ears as they watched with wide eyes as Garp held up their posters and marched their way.

The spell was broken quickly though, and the first thing they did was run.

The crowd parted, not wanting to get mowed down, and they watched as Luffy's arms stretched and he climbed into the rigging, Ace, and Sabo yelling about how unfair it was until Garp grabbed a barrel and threw it at the Monkey, knocking his balance off and causing him to fall back to the deck where the chance commenced.

"And don't think I forgot about all the damage you caused to that port Ace! I got an earful for that one!"

"Good! Maybe if they nag you enough you'll finally drop dead you old geezer!"

"Is that any way to speak to your grandfather?!"

The crew could only watch or run as the four ran around the deck. Occasionally Garp would throw things to slow the brothers, but for the most part, it was running, shoving, and jumping.

It wasn't until Garp finally caught the three that things calmed down. After he'd punched all of them over the head and lectured them, they were able to have a quiet conversation amongst themselves that no one dared to interrupt. Even though the brothers looked hurt and sore, they still talked to their grandfather and told him about the different things they'd done, one of those things being rescuing another facility. Luffy could feel how proud the man was of them, and he didn't lecture them like he had whenever they told him about their other adventures. He'd merely laughed, said a quiet, 'Good.' and they'd moved on from the topic.

They didn't tell him anything about the Whitebeards, such as Teachs betrayal, or anything like that, because they knew their grandfather- like Luffy- would sometimes blurt things out without thinking, and that could cause them trouble. If it was important enough, like Ace and Luffy's parents, or the brothers' facility gained abilities, they could count on him to keep his mouth shut, but with pirate information? Better safe than sorry.

Garp only stayed until after lunch, and then he was off, telling them to stay out of trouble and to train harder. It wasn't as bittersweet a farewell as it had been when they'd first gotten out of the facility, it was more akin to the old days, where Garp would show up in the jungle for a bit and then leave without too many words.

Maybe they'd be better hidden next time he visited.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

Ace was off on a mission, alone, and Luffy couldn't help but worry. He sat on the railing like he always did whenever Ace went on missions, and he watched his brothers wave closely. On either side of Aces wave was Sabo and Marcos, all three bright and opaque like Luffy hoped they'd always be.

He could feel amusement from those walking around the deck, many finding it funny how much Luffy worried at times like these. Luffy didn't mind, he knew it was a bit much, but he couldn't help it. Even though he knew Ace was strong, whenever the eldest went away he couldn't help but worry that his brother would get in trouble and he and Sabo wouldn't be there to help him. Whiskey told him it was because of how they'd grown up, how Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had never left each others sides, and if they had it was never for a good reason. In the facility, if a brother was alone in the testing room, that meant bad news, and Whiskey told him that was why he was worried over Ace now, because, even though they were out of the facility, Ace being gone was associated with the eldest getting hurt.

The two of them were still working on getting him over this, because not only was it unhealthy for Luffy to need someone to keep tabs on him lest he start skipping meals unknowingly, it was also necessary if he was going to leave the Whitebeards one day. If he wanted to become the Pirate King, he couldn't sit at the railing of his own ship for days on end and watch the three waves in front of him at all times.

He knew he had to stop this, but he couldn't help but do it every time.

"Come on Luffy, just for a half-hour, and then you can come back." Whiskey urged quietly beside him. He frowned, gripping the railing tightly in his fists.

"But what if he gets hurt?" Luffy asked, eyes not moving from the bright red wave.

"Ace is strong Luffy, and even if he does get hurt he has his fast healing remember? And if worst comes to worst, he knows that basic first aid that Whiskey taught us all." Sabo said from his other side. Whiskey had told him it would help if Luffy could at least keep one brother in view during the time he wasn't watching the wave, to make it a little easier on him, and Sabo wanted Luffy to get help so he agreed without hesitation.

"I can come right back? After a half-hour?" Luffy asked after a minute of silent thinking.

"Yes. We're going to go eat in the galley and talk to the others, and then when you're done, you can come right back here." Whiskey assured. It took another minute for Luffy to think it over before he was hesitantly getting off the railing, eyes darting to the red wave as he did. Even though he could see the wave no matter where he was, it was easier for him to concentrate on it when he had no distractions, like when he was just watching the ocean. Going in the galley, eating, talking, he wouldn't be able to pay much attention to the wave, and that was the goal of this whole exercise.

"Good job, Lu. Hey, I heard Thatch made lots of meat today, and some of those rolls that you like." Sabo said, nudging Luffy gently with his elbow, a small smile on his face.

"Mm." Luffy hummed noncommittally, letting the wave slowly fade away as he paid more attention to walking and talking to Whiskey and Sabo.

"And did you hear that he was even thinking about making dessert today?" Whiskey asked, smiling as well. Luffy looked at her, eyes widening.

"Really?!" He asked, suddenly invested in the conversation.

"Oh yeah, I heard he was going to be making some of that chocolate ice cream again," Sabo confirmed with a nod. Luffy had stars in his eyes as he left the twos side, running into the galley and straight to Thatch. Sabo and Whiskey smiled.

"Well, its a start. Every mealtime we should get him to go to the galley himself rather than bring him food to the railing. If he absolutely refuses, or Aces wave gets dimmer, we might have to make exceptions, but otherwise, we can't let him continue letting himself waste away over there." Whiskey said. Sabo nodded at her side, listening carefully so he could help in the future.

"We should try and get him to take baths too, but I'm not worried about that just yet. Maybe the next time Ace takes a mission. For now, meals are our goal." She finished.

"I think we can manage that." Sabo agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> Welcome back everyone! This chapter was a lot of little snippets of the brothers' lives on the Moby. The next few chapters will be like this as well so that I can show you all a lot of different things within one chapter. From action, to heavy thoughts, to funny moments, the scenes will vary but they will all have important meanings to them.
> 
> In this chapter for example, there was Sabo's worry over Haru -something that hasn't been mentioned in much detail-, Luffy's birthday, Garp, and Ace being gone on a mission and Luffy's reaction to it. That last one was the most important I think, because it shows that, despite how much the brothers have grown and moved passed their trauma, there are still some lingering fears and anxieties. They're working passed them though so that they can live as normal a life as possible.


	97. Fights and Familiar Faces

"Come on Marco, _please?_ "

"Yeah Marco, _please?_ "

Marco sighed in exasperation as he rubbed his forehead.

"Ruta, you're a bad example, yoi," Marco said in annoyance, trying to ignore the two.

"What do you mean? I'm teaching Luffy here valuable life skills, like persuasion! And how to hit moving targets!" Haruta said, gesturing to Luffy who was grinning beside him.

"Yeah! So come on Marco, _please?_ Please, please, please, please, please, please, please-"

"It's still no, so stop asking." Marco interrupted, not wanting to figure out long Luffy could repeat the same word. He didn't doubt that it would be a while.

"Aw, but _why?_ " Haruta and Luffy both whined simultaneously, visibly deflating in front of him. He rolled his eyes at the theatrics, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because why would I want to fly around so you can have Luffy try rocketing at me? Not only are we in the middle of the ocean right now, where you would more than likely land, but I'm also not fond of the idea of having a human projectile coming at me, yoi." Marco said, trying to walk away so he wouldn't have to hear the two whine anymore.

"But _Marco-_ "

"I said no."

"Stingy."

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"Marines." Ace confirmed, Luffy cheering beside him and Sabo smiling. It had been a while since their last marine fight, so when Ace confirmed the incoming ship was a marine's, it made them all a little excited.

It didn't take long for the marine ship to reach them, and once it did, like always, they sprung into action. Marines boarded the Moby and the pirates boarded the Marines. This fight was no different from the hundreds they'd had before it, and the Whitebeards were going to be the obvious victors once again. Whitebeard watched over every fight from where he sat, not interfering, but prepared to if necessary. The commanders were all leading their divisions and helping crew members when needed.

Like always, the trio of brothers stuck together, fighting in unison and watching not only their backs but their ship brothers as well.

The fight was in their favor, they had the larger crew and more experience compared to this Marine crew that was clearly only here because the Captain thought this would be an easy fight like many before him had. Luffy hadn't seen the Captain, he'd only briefly heard him yelling about taking Whitebeards head, so when he did catch a glimpse of him and saw the dark color surrounding him he instinctually shrunk back from the man.

The black aura wasn't as bad as Teach or Haru, he didn't think he'd find anyone else who had colors that dark, but this Captain didn't have a speck of grey either. It was a thick, slimy, black that oozed off the man and practically crept towards Luffy, threatening to taint anything in its way.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, checking on the youngest quickly as he ducked under a sword. He'd noticed Luffys sudden pause in the fight, Sabo as well, and they were concerned about what had happened.

"Captain has black color," Luffy told them, peeling his eyes off of the man and back to his brothers. He did his best not to look back at the man, but he couldn't help but look back every few seconds. Ace and Sabo's faces grew more serious at the news and they nodded. Ace immediately broke from them and moved towards the Captain instead, telling anyone he passed that the Captain had a black color so that others would be more cautious around him.

Sabo stayed with Luffy, the two of them keeping away from the Captain, while Ace and some of the other commanders went to take care of the Captain.

It had happened a few times now that an opponent would have the darker colors, and when that was the case Luffy would tell them and the Commanders would go and take care of it, everyone keeping a careful eye on whoever had the color to ensure no one got hurt around them. More often than not, the person with the darker colors was more vicious than the rest of their opponents. It wasn't that they were all that much stronger or scarier, but they didn't seem to have the same regard for human life then normal people did. Whereas a normal, good person would want to try and keep casualties- especially of those on their side- to a minimum, people with darker colors had a tendency to not have such a regard. They were the type to use human shields, even if that shield was a friend. So long as they got the desired result in the end, they didn't seem to care who they used or what they did.

This was the case with the Captain as well. The second he realized he was going to have company in the form of three commanders- Ace, Marco and Atmos- he called his crew to come and cover him while he fired a gun from behind them.

Sabo and Luffy continued fighting their own group of Marines, Luffy trying to focus on them rather than the commanders' fight with the Captain. He brought up Marco and Aces waves, but he wasn't able to pay much attention to them while he was fighting. He tried to keep them in the corner of his eye though as he fought, watching for any translucence to them that would indicate someone was hurt.

Ever since Marco and Luffy had created a wave together, the teen had noticed that, whenever Marco got hurt, the wave would only flicker momentarily before becoming opaque once more, as if nothing had happened. It showed Luffy that, even though the man was getting hurt, he was healing just as fast.

This happened to be the case now as well. The few times Marco would get hurt, Luffy would notice the flicker in the wave, but was reassured soon after when he looked closer and saw the bright azure blue still going strong. Aces wave was taking a little damage, but it usually did during fights. Even Sabo's wave was fading just a tad, but it was nothing to be worried about yet.

The fight continued on this way, Sabo and Luffy sticking together before moving on to fight with others from their division, all the while Luffy was watching the waves for any sign that there was trouble.

Everyone was finishing up their fights, all divisions clearing up the marines they'd been attacking, and Sabo and Luffy had just knocked out the last three marines in their group when Luffy noticed that, at the same time a gun went off, Marcos wave flickered. He watched, waiting expectantly for it to heal and go back to normal, but seconds passed and it remained the same. His eyes went wide at this and he turned to where the commander was fighting, noticing he was no longer in his Phoenix form flying in the air, but rather on the deck, holding his shoulder with bright blue and yellow flames coming from beneath his hand. Ace and Atmos looked unhappy as they continued trying to get to the Marine Captain, but every time they tried there was another marine in their way, blindly shielding their Captain without any hesitation.

Sabo had noticed Luffy's attention to the fight, realizing that something might be wrong, so he wasn't surprised when Luffy began running towards Marco, instead deciding to follow along. He'd heard the shot, but they were in a fight, shooting wasn't exactly uncommon at the moment.

"Marco?" Luffy asked as they grew closer, worry in the teen's voice.

"Don't worry Luffy, yoi, I'm fine. Seastone bullet." Marco said, lifting his hand to show the two that the wound wasn't healing like it normally would.

"I don't want it to heal over the bullet so I'm not letting it. Sorry for worrying you." Marco said to Luffy, giving him a smile as he did. Luffy frowned, eyes flickering to the marine Captain that Ace and Atmos were finally getting closer to. Rakuyo and Blamenco had joined the fight now as well, having cleared their own marines.

"Let's go have Whiskey take that out," Sabo said with a frown, looking to Luffy to see if he was paying attention. Marco nodded his agreement and the three began to leave the deck, Luffy still watching the fight carefully until it was no longer possible. At that point, he began watching Aces wave. He didn't want to leave the fight, he wanted to stay and help too, but he knew they were going to be fine. They would take down the marine captain easily, so he was fine to go with Marco and Sabo, even if the infirmary did smell.

As was typical during a fight, nurses were busy getting wounded the treatment they needed, everyone rushing this way and that as they did. When the three walked in they were quickly taken to a bed where Marco was told to wait for Whiskey.

Sabo updated them on the fight outside while they waited, telling them as more and more of the marines were taken down until, finally, the captain was down as well, ending the fight. The Marine ship was raided before they let it drift off, any wounded on their side was being helped to the infirmary and it didn't seem like anyone was hurt too bad.

When Whiskey finally reached them she already had the necessary tools to take out the bullet, and within minutes, it was out, Marcos flames burning brighter and covering the wound until they flickered out, leaving a healed patch of skin.

"All good, yoi?" He asked Luffy with a smirk. Luffy would know even better than Whiskey in this case whether Marco was fully healed or not, and a quick check of Marcos wave told him he was just fine.

"Mm!" Luffy hummed, grinning. He was happy everyone was alright. Even Aces wave was healing up, his brothers fast healing being put to work.

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have more patients to take care of." Whiskey said to them with a smile.

"Come on Lu, let's go help bring the injured here," Sabo suggested, stretching. Luffy agreed, Marco telling them he was going to speak to Whitebeard, and the three left the infirmary, all of them healthy.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"What are you, chicken? You scared we'll actually get you?" Haruta teased, waggling his eyebrows while Luffy grinned beside him.

"I'm not chicken, I just don't want to give you two the chance to break something and blame it on me. I've heard enough out of Blenheim and Fossa this week, I don't need you two getting me in more trouble with them." Jiru said defensively, arms crossed as he looked away from the two, not letting himself get baited into joining the game these two wanted to play.

" _Please?_ We need a target!" Luffy urged, eyes big and a small pout on his face. Jiru nearly hesitated at the look but held strong.

"No. Nope, no way. Not happening." Jiru said, turning around completely now so he couldn't be tempted.

"It's just a little target practice Jiru- you being the target of course. We want Luffy's aim to get better, don't we? What better way than by using a moving human target?" Haruta asked, walking in front of Jiru's face again.

"I think I hear my division looking for me. Sorry, I'll talk to you two later." Jiru said, walking off quickly before they could stop him.

"Aw," Luffy whined, Haruta pouting beside him.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Sabo walked through the town at a slow, calm, peaceful pace. It was evening, the sun was beginning to set on the horizon now, and Sabo was by himself, enjoying the peaceful air. Ace and Luffy had headed back to the Moby already, wanting to be the first ones to dinner since Thatch was making a feast today so Sabo was left to meander back to the ship by his lonesome. He didn't mind, his brothers could be a bit... _much,_ so to have some time to himself in the sleepy town was nice.

There was minor chatter around him as those that inhabited this small town talked amongst themselves, some buying last-minute items from the closing markets and others having idle conversations with their neighbors. He didn't focus too closely on any one conversation -he didn't like eavesdropping- so he didn't really know what anyone was talking about.

He laced his fingers together behind his head, walking at a relaxed pace and looking up at the sky. Ever since the facility, he'd never taken the endless expanse of space above him for granted, and every day he found himself taking in the freedom of the sky, the warmth of the sun, the cover of the clouds. He smiled, enjoying the breeze that blew past him, trees swaying in the wind around him. He didn't think he'd ever get over the sensation of freedom from walking under the sky.

"Sabo?" A voice broke him from his thoughts and he turned in confusion, wondering who was calling him. The voice was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out how. Once he saw them though, he remembered, eyes lighting up in recognition.

"Koala? What are you doing here?" He asked, not sure if he should be on guard around the woman or not. She was apart of the Revolutionaries, a group no one had much information on, but she had helped them in the past, as well as the children they'd saved from the facility.

"I'm not exactly at liberty to give that information to you. Its got nothing to do with you though, it just happens to be a coincidence that we're meeting again." She said with a smile, and Sabo wished Luffy was here to tell him if the woman was lying or not.

"Oh? Its coincidence that we're meeting on this random island in the New World again and it was all unplanned?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow, skeptical. Koala puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from Sabo indignantly.

"Fine, don't believe me, it's not like I care or anything." She said, and Sabo could only watch her, blinking in confusion. Finally, he broke the silence, laughing at the way Koala was acting, but that didn't seem to make the situation any better as the woman turned a glare on him.

"Sorry, sorry! Anyways, you can't tell me why you're here then? That's too bad." Sabo said with a smile, knowing that if he'd paid more attention to his surroundings he might have heard Koala talking sooner and might have more of a clue as to why she was here.

"That's right. Where are your brothers? Ace and Luffy?" She asked, looking around the street for them but not seeing them.

"Back on the Moby. I was actually heading back there myself. Wheres Hack?" Sabo asked in return, also not spying, nor hearing, the Fishman anywhere nearby.

"Not here. I was sent on this mission alone." Koala answered, fixing her hair as she spoke.

"Ah, that must be pretty lonely," Sabo said, trying to think back to the last time he'd really been alone. He was apart of a giant crew so he was never really alone, and before that, he was with Ace and Luffy in the facility. He'd always had them with him, and he wondered if there would ever be a time where neither were there with him.

"Not really, I'm used to it. Why don't we go get some drinks? We can talk about all the trouble you three have been up to." Koala suggested, hand on her hip as she did.

"Oh? Were you keeping tabs on us?" Sabo asked teasingly, smirking to the redhead. Her cheeks puffed out again in annoyance as she glared at him.

"So what if I was? You three are in the papers all the time." She said defensively.

"Yeah, but when we met you didn't even know our names, and we were in the papers just as much then." Sabo pointed out, making her huff and cross her arms again.

"Whatever. Do you want those drinks or not?" She asked, already beginning to walk off. Sabo followed, laughing all the meanwhile.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"Hey, Namur-!"

"No." Haruta and Luffy shared a look of confusion at the fishman's answer.

"What do you mean no? I haven't even said anything yet." Haruta said, looking at the commander now.

"I've heard from the others about how you two are trying to rope someone into being a target. The answers no." Namur explained, not even looking up from his task.

"But _why?_ " Haruta and Luffy asked in unison. Why was it so difficult to get someone to cooperate with them?

"Because I don't want to be responsible for all of the bad that's going to come from this," Namur said, gesturing vaguely to the two as he spoke.

"Namur, buddy, think about it. Luffy, our youngest ship brother, will be leaving us in just a short while. We won't be there to help him, so we should all do our best to make sure he's prepared. That involves helping him improve his aim, with a moving target no less!" Haruta said, pulling Luffy into a side hug and gesturing to the teen. Namur looked up briefly at the explanation, frowning. He looked between Haruta and Luffy slowly, and the two could practically see his resolve breaking.

"What happens if he meets someone like Kizaru, hm? That man is literally light, he moves faster than we can see. We've trained up his haki for those kinds of situations, but it's useless if he can't hit the target because you didn't want to help him practice." Haruta continued. Luffy remained silent, feeling the confidence from Haruta and the dilemma within Namur as he listened to the commander's words.

Namur sighed and Luffy didn't think he'd ever seen Haruta smile so wide before.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"We've liberated a total of 12 facilities since we've started doing this. They're hard to get information on, even for us, and even with the information it's hard to find the actual buildings." Koala admitted with a sigh, chin resting on her hand, elbow propped on top of the bar they were sitting at.

"How many do you think there are?" Sabo asked somberly, staring at his glass in front of him, frowning. Koala matched his frown, sighing.

"Honestly? I've got no clue. None of us do. There isn't exactly a list of all the facilities for us to check off. Every time we take one down we always hope its the last one, but then we get a lead on another and we have to try and find it before too many children are lost." Koala said in a hushed voice so no one would overhear her. It was risky sharing just this much with the blonde, but she was hoping that he'd keep this between them and not spread the information around like gossip. She liked her job, she liked helping people, and it would suck if she lost it because she trusted the wrong person with the wrong information.

"Damn." Sabo cursed quietly, sighing heavily.

The two talked amongst each other for a while, Sabo learning more and more about the different facilities the Revolutionary Army had found and liberated while Sabo even shared a bit of information on what it had been like living in a facility.

"Eating garbage soup for 7 years and then finally having the chance to eat real food? I think that was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life." Sabo said with a reminiscent smile, thinking back to the near tears he'd shed after eating real food again.

"Cheers to that," Koala muttered, raising her glass. Sabo raised an eyebrow at that, picking up on the implied agreement. Koala seemed to realize this and frowned, giving a sigh as she put her drink down.

"I may have had a... similar experience in the past. I wasn't in a facility, and I'm not going to tell you what happened, but when I was a child, let's just say there was a period where I was only eating scraps if I was lucky." She told him. Sabo frowned but nodded, understanding it was a sensitive topic that Koala wasn't going to share with just anyone.

"Anyways, we got gross soup every day, every meal, and nothing else. One glass of water with each meal too. Testing usually started every day after breakfast. A doctor would come out, call the numbers that were to be tested that day, and we'd be taken to the testing room, or lab, or whatever it was called, and be strapped to these uncomfortable wooden chairs- or even worse; the tables." Sabo told her, and he wondered if he should stop there. Maybe it was the two glasses he'd already had, or maybe it was because Koala was practically a stranger that made it easier to talk to her. She did know a lot about facilities already, so that could be it too, but he had no hesitance in telling her what he and his brothers had gone through. Some things he obviously wouldn't share, because after all, she was a stranger, but for the most part he was alright with talking to her like he would to Whiskey.

"We watched a lot of kids die," He admitted, taking another sip of his drink as he thought about the hundreds of children he and his brothers had seen come and go.

"I'm sorry," Koala said softly, but Sabo waved it off.

"No need for you to apologize, you had nothing to do with it. Its all the damn doctors- the _governments_ \- fault." Sabo said with a scowl, finishing his drink. Koala was about to speak, but Sabo looking to the bar doors stopped her.

"Ace and Luffy are on their way here. If you want, you should leave now." Koala frowned at the information, trying to use her haki to find the two, but found nothing.

"How do you know that?" She asked in confusion. Sabo's previous scowl was replaced with a smirk and she suddenly remembered when they'd first met.

"Abilities." They said at the same time; Sabo happily while Koala said it with a hint of annoyance.

"Right. One of these days you'll tell me what those abilities are." Koala said as she stood from her bar stool, placing money down for her drinks. Sabo copied her, still smirking.

"That implies that we'll see each other again. However, as I recall, this only happened by mere coincidence." Sabo teased, making Koala puff her cheeks again.

"It _was_ a coincidence." She said, knowing it wouldn't have any effect. Sabo laughed at her and she huffed, thoroughly annoyed.

"Then I'll look forward to the next coincidence," Sabo said with a small bow, taking off his hat. Koala rolled her eyes at the theatrics but smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, see you later Sabo," Koala said, waving as she left the bar. Sabo was in no rush to leave, knowing that in only a few minutes, his brothers would be entering, no doubt to question him on what he was doing.

He may as well buy himself another drink.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

"And what, do tell, made you think that letting Luffy, a devil fruit user, rocket himself at you while you swam in the ocean was a good idea?" Sabo asked Namur with a raised eyebrow as Ace yelled at Luffy beside them. Haruta was laughing loudly, clutching his stomach and falling to the deck as he did.

"I know, I know, those idiots persuaded me," Namur grumbled, already annoyed with himself that he'd even let Haruta's words have an effect on him like they'd had.

"Seriously, do I have to listen to everyone here 24/7?" Sabo asked, more to himself as he gave an exasperated sigh and pinched his nose.

"I don't care how cool or how much fun it was, it was stupid!"

"But Ace, did you see it?! I went, _'Fwoom'_ and I got Namur too!"

"That's not the point, idiot!"


	98. Thoughts of the Future

Over the years that the brothers had been with the Whitebeards, they had yet to stop their sessions with Whiskey. Every week, like clockwork, they would go to the upper deck and each take turns talking to the nurse. Sometimes sessions would have to be postponed due to missions, fights, or everyone was just too busy, but they always made sure to reschedule.

Time and time again the brothers could see the improvement that talking with Whiskey had on them. Nightmares weren't as frequent, strangers weren't as scary, and they were able to tolerate doctors they'd never met before relatively well compared to before where they'd had a near phobia of them. Needles were easier to handle as well; easier with each check-up they went to.

They'd told Whiskey a lot, more then they'd told each other, and the nurse felt like a safe person they could tell anything and everything to. It was nice to have that kind of person in their lives. They needed it.

The journals that Whiskey had had them write in so long ago were filled with every nightmare they'd had since then to the point that they had to get new ones, which they'd also filled rather quickly. They each had a total of fifteen different notebooks, fourteen of them filled with writing on every page and the last one still in progress, but with how far in between they had nightmares, they no longer filled the pages as quick as they used to.

Even after all of this time talking to Whiskey, there were some things that they'd yet to talk about, and for Luffy, that was the matter of seeing people's memories.

Seeing people's memories wasn't exactly a scary topic for Luffy, but he still didn't like talking about it. He didn't like the idea that, at any time, he could will himself to see any one person's memories whenever he wanted. It felt like an invasion of privacy- like he was prying into something that he, nor anybody else, should be able to see. Memories were precious, and they weren't something that Luffy liked to even think about peeking in on.

The fact that he could see anyone's memories whenever he wanted made him extremely uncomfortable, so he tried his best to forget that he even had that ability. He didn't let the idea cross his mind, didn't let the temptation to look into someone's memories overtake him. He hadn't looked into anyone's memories since back at the facility.

Sitting in front of Whiskey now, talking as usual about different topics, the topic of seeing memories came up.

"I know its not something you particularly like talking about, but what are your thoughts on seeing memories? Have they changed since we talked about it last?" She asked. Long ago they'd briefly talked about it, but Luffy didn't want to say much and Whiskey let the topic change quickly after.

"I don't know..." Luffy started with a frown, shifting a little now.

"I don't like looking at people's memories, so I don't." He said bluntly, looking to the ground. Whiskey nodded in front of him.

"I understand. What about it makes you not like it?" She asked him gently, her voice always the same during these sessions. She never pressured them into saying something, never urged them to go on when they were uncomfortable, she only spoke calmly, gently, letting them speak on their own terms, on their own time.

"Memories... memories are private. They're people's treasures, and I don't have a right to look at them." Luffy said after a bit of thinking, face scrunched as he tried thinking of the right words to use.

"And what if someone said it was alright to look into their memories? Say, for example, I gave permission for you to look. How would you feel about that?" She asked, and now Luffy was confused. He'd never thought about that before. Everyone on the crew didn't even know about his ability to see memories, only the Commanders, Whiskey, his brothers, and Whitebeard, so the idea that someone would want him to look into their memories confused him.

"Why would they want me to do that?" He asked in confusion, face still scrunched. Whiskeys smile widened and she laughed lightly.

"Who knows. This is more of a hypothetical situation, an imaginary situation. So if someone gave permission, how would you feel about that?" She explained, asking the question again afterward. Luffy stopped talking to think about it for a moment because he'd never thought about it before.

What if someone wanted him to see their memories? Told him it was alright for him to do so? Would he be alright with it then?

"I think it would be ok then. If they wanted me to." He said slowly after much thought. Whiskey nodded again, writing something down on her notepad.

"And what if you didn't have permission, but looking into someone's memories would, say, save someone else's life. How about then?" She asked trying to find the limits of Luffy's comfort levels revolving around seeing memories. Luffy had to start thinking again, and Whiskey could visibly see the effort it took for the teen to think over her question. He wasn't shying away from the questions and was taking them all seriously, which was a good thing. They helped her know where she needed to help him and where she needed to work on.

"If I had to, if someone would live because I did, I think I could do it. I wouldn't like it though." Luffy told her, tacking on the last bit to let her know.

"That's understandable." Whiskey told him, finishing her writing on this subject.

"I heard the plan is for you to leave here soon, is that right?" She asked him, changing the subject. Her job as the brothers' nurse was to get them as healthy as she possibly could, both mentally and physically, and with Luffy leaving soon, she wanted to make sure she helped in every way she possibly could.

"Mm! I wanna set sail when I'm seventeen so Pops told me we're gonna have an early birthday party for me and then I'm gonna go back to my home island and set sail there. That's where I would have set sail if I hadn't been taken." Luffy told the nurse with a smile, excited for the future. In just a couple of weeks, he would be leaving the Moby and becoming a pirate Captain of his own. The idea of it made him jittery with excitement and happiness, but he reigned himself in, focusing back on Whiskey.

"That's a good plan. Seems like we're going to be ending our sessions soon too if that's the case." She said with a fond smile, proud of how far Luffy had come.

"Yeah, but you taught me lots of stuff, like writing in my journal and how to calm down when I'm scared and how to not be too scared of needles," Luffy said happily, feeling the pride from the nurse, but also a bit of sadness.

"That's right. I want you to take a mini den den with you when you go, though. I'm sure Oyaji or Marco, or maybe even Ace or Sabo, might have already brought up that idea." She said, Luffy nodding in agreement that that had happened. All of them had made the suggestion to him at one point or another, Ace and Sabo because they wanted him to be able to call them if needed and Marco and Oyaji for mostly the same reason.

"It would help if you need someone to talk to or you want to have a session like this with me but we're not together. If you ever have a question about your, or anyone else's, health, mentally or physically, you can give me a call. Anytime Luffy, you hear?" She asked sternly, pointing her pencil at him. He nodded, laughing at the nurse's seriousness, making her sigh.

"In any case, I think that should conclude our session for the day. I'll see you next week." She told him, standing. Luffy did the same, giving a farewell before running off to talk to Thatch about his upcoming party.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

The brothers' time with the Whitebeards had been extremely helpful for all of them. They'd learned important skills like haki and fighting techniques, gained better control over their senses, learned how to cope with their traumatizing past, and had made good friends. A family.

However, Luffy would be leaving soon, and Sabo was beginning to think that maybe he would too. Talking with Koala back on that island not all that long ago, he'd found that he still held a hatred for the government that he couldn't quite keep down. The idea of the Revolutionary Army seemed nice; helping people, freeing facilities like the one he'd been trapped in, and taking down the corrupt government that was the Marines.

It was appealing, and more and more Sabo found himself thinking that he might want to become a Revolutionary himself.

It was just an idea he had, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to follow through with it yet, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to do it. Being a pirate was fun, freeing, and the exact opposite of being a marine which was a plus, but he wanted more. He wanted to make a difference, and the Revolutionary Army seemed to be able to make that possible.

He hadn't talked to anyone about this yet, and with Luffy leaving so soon, he felt more inclined to stay here on the Moby with Ace. He, Ace and Luffy had never been separated before, and the thought of all of them separating at once was a bit scary, but it was bound to happen eventually.

He loved the Whitebeards, he was eternally grateful to them for everything they'd done for him, and it felt wrong to leave them. At the same time though, he knew they would understand if this was something he truly wanted to do.

It was going to be a hard decision for him to make, but he felt confident that everything would work out in the end.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

Whitebeard sat in his chair, watching as everyone went on with their day. Amongst them was Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, the three brothers laughing with Thatch and Izo. Whitebeard smiled fondly at the group, thinking back to when the brothers had first arrived and they'd barely even come out on deck. Now they had opened up and become family just as everyone else on this ship had and it made him a proud Captain to see this.

In just a couple of weeks, his youngest son would be leaving him, and that was a big step for everyone. Not only would Luffy be off on his own, but his brothers would also be without him. The three of them had never truly separated before, and Whitebeard wondered how they would take it once they finally were.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed Marco walking his way, and from the look on his face, he wanted to speak to him about something.

"Oyaji." Marco greeted as he came over, leaning on the arm of Whitebeards chair, arms crossed as he watched the crew with the giant.

"How are things, my son?" Whitebeard asked him with a gentle smile.

"So far everything's going smoothly, yoi. No doubt someones going to have some sort of issue sooner or later." The commander answered with a shrug. Whitebeard nodded in agreement, knowing that was probably going to be the case. He had a lot of sons and daughters on this ship, it was inevitable that some would have issues at some point, and it just so happened that many went to Marco when it came to their problems.

"That is true. Was there something else you wanted to speak with me about?" Whitebeard asked, looking at Marco out of the corner of his eye with a knowing look. Marco had been apart of his crew long enough that he was able to identify the man's emotions pretty well based off of his looks, and right now he looked like he was just waiting to talk about something. Marco seemed to know this as well, frowning as he looked at Whitebeard before sighing and shaking his head in defeat.

"Not really, yoi. I just keep wondering if Luffy's ready to go off on his own yet." Marco admitted, uncrossing his arms and letting them rest at his sides. Whitebeard hummed in understanding, waiting for Marco to continue.

"He's strong, I'll give him that, and all three of the brothers are progressing well in their haki, but they still have a lot they need to work on. Not to mention that there are still things they haven't completely healed from yet, yoi." Marco said, voicing his concerns. Whitebeard continued listening silently, nodding along to show he was listening.

"Whiskey says they're doing better than they ever have before, but that doesn't mean they're healed, that they won't have setbacks, yoi. What if Luffy's on his own and has a setback? And we're not there to help him?" Marco asked, finishing his mini-rant.

"We can't force him to stay here forever. I understand your concerns son, I have some of my own, but we're helping him all we can. We've already convinced him to take a mini den den with him, and if he needs us he can call and ask and we'll do what we can. Even if he's not here, he's still family and we help family when they need it." Whitebeard told Marco calmly, watching Luffy now as he spoke.

"You're right," Marco said with another sigh, nodding.

"You know, I thought Ace or Sabo would be worrying more over this then they are, yoi," Marco said, looking to the brothers now as he spoke.

"I'm sure they are, they're just handling it differently then we are is all. Everyone deals with their own emotions differently, and those three have a tendency to handle many things differently than we normally do." Whitebeard said with a smile. His words weren't an insult, merely an observation after having dealt with the brothers for the past few years. Marco scoffed, crossing his arms again.

"You've got that right, yoi." He said, smiling himself now. Seeing as he had been watching the brothers, he and Whitebeard were both able to witness as Luffy grabbed onto the rigging above them, Ace, Sabo, Thatch, and Izo yelling something at him, but it was too late as the teen went flying upwards.

And into the water.

"I take back what I said, yoi," Marco said in exasperation, pinching his nose as someone jumped in to save their youngest crew member.

Whitebeard only laughed.

_**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** _

"You want to join the Revolutionary Army?" Ace asked, eyebrows furrowed as he repeated what Sabo had just told him.

"I've been thinking about it, yes," Sabo said from their desk chair. Luffy was sitting on the bed, listening, while Ace was taking off his boots.

"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting that." Ace said honestly, throwing his boots toward their closet, not caring if they made it there or not.

"I haven't exactly decided if I wanted to or not, but I'm thinking I might." The blonde said, finishing putting things away in the desk and turning in the chair to face his brothers.

"If you leave too you better take a mini den den like Luffy." Ace said sternly, taking the news much easier then Sabo had expected him. He raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what was going through his brother's head.

"I planned on it. After all, what if Luffy wanted to call me instead of you?" Sabo teased instead, knowing that Ace wouldn't voice his worries if he didn't want to, and the best way to distract his brother from said worries was to make fun of him.

"Why would he want to call you over me? Tell him Luffy, you'd rather talk to me instead, right?" Ace asked Luffy, the two looking at the unsuspecting boy who only blinked owlishly at them.

"Why can't I talk to both of you?" He asked in confusion, tilting his head as he spoke.

"Because that's not what we're talking about." Ace said plainly, which only made Luffy laugh and Sabo smile.

"Ne, Sabo, does that mean you'd be working for my dad?" Luffy asked, completely ignoring the previous conversation and moving on to another. Ace sighed in annoyance but was intrigued by Luffy's question, turning to the blonde.

"I guess. I talked to Koala a little but not too long and she was telling me about how everything works. She couldn't tell me a lot, super-secret operation and all, but the gist of it is that Dragon runs everything which we already knew." Sabo said with a shrug.

"Would you be like a ninja then?! Cause they're all sneaky and stuff too!" Luffy said, stars in his eyes at the thought that his older brother would become a ninja. Sabo laughed at this while Ace snickered, Luffy feeling the amusement coming from them and smiling as a result.

"Sure, Luffy. I'd be a ninja." Sabo agreed, despite knowing that wasn't the case.

" _Woah!_ Ninjas are so cool! But not cooler then pirates, pirates are the best!" Luffy said as if struggling with whether he liked ninjas or pirates more. Sabo shook his head, standing from the chair and stretching.

"Alright, let's get some sleep. I heard Thatch was making pancakes tomorrow." The blonde said with a smile, noticing that Ace had gone quiet but not saying anything on it.

"Thatch's pancakes are so good!" Luffy said dreamily, licking his lips at the thought of them, getting into his spot on the bed.

"You've only ever had Thatch's pancakes Luffy," Sabo noted, also getting into the bed.

The room was dark once Sabo turned out the oil lamp on their bedside table, and despite how excited he knew Luffy was over the idea of tomorrow's breakfast, the teen fell asleep rather quickly after saying his good nights.

Sabo wasn't able to fall asleep immediately, he hadn't been for a while now ever since he'd first thought about joining the Revolutionaries, so it wasn't surprising for him to still be awake a half-hour later, still staring at the ceiling.

What was surprising was Ace speaking up from the other end of the bed.

"Sabo?" The eldest asked, nearly making him jump from the voice all of a sudden. He'd thought Ace had gone to sleep too, but that obviously wasn't the case.

"Ace? I thought you were sleeping. Nearly gave me a heart attack." Sabo told him, taking a steadying breath, heart pounding heavily in his chest at the scare.

"Sorry," Ace said, but he didn't sound it at all, if anything, Sabo guessed his brother was smiling right now at his expense. He sighed.

"What's up?" He asked, wondering what Ace had wanted in the first place. It was quiet now, Ace not speaking. Sabo waited patiently, not letting himself believe Ace had finally fallen asleep lest he be caught by surprise again.

"You better stay safe. You and Luffy. And if you need us, call." Ace said, voice hard again, and Sabo knew his brother was worried; he was too. Worried for Ace, for Luffy, even himself. All of his childhood he'd wanted to be free, and then he'd met Ace, and then Luffy, and his dream changed to that of being a pirate. When they were taken by the facility that dream was changed again, back to wanting that freedom he so desperately wanted as a kid, and when they got out, became pirates, it had been amazing, but... there was always something that didn't feel right. Sure, he was free, he was a pirate, everything he'd ever wanted, but the facility was still there, still holding him back and making him feel as if he wasn't truly free.

Joining the Revolutionaries, he would be able to actively fight against the facility. He would be able to rid the world of those horrible buildings, and once that happened, he would truly feel free.

"I will. Hey, if you ever want to talk, just call me. I don't care what it's about." Sabo told him honestly. Ace had gotten better at expressing his emotions to others, but that didn't mean he was always the best at initiating conversations with others about said emotions.

"I'm holding you to that. I'll call whenever I want to complain about Curiel leaving his dirty socks everywhere. Or Kingdew taking all the fun in fights. Oh, or when Marco yells at me for putting off my reports till the last second!" Ace said, and Sabo could hear the smile again.

"As long as you don't call to tell me about Thatch complaining that he's never in our 'adventures'. I've heard enough of those to last me two lifetimes." Sabo groaned. Sometimes super hearing sucked.

"Especially then." Ace snickered.

The room grew silent again, the two not speaking anymore. Sabo continued staring at the ceiling, and he had a feeling Ace was doing the same, not having heard him shift. After some time passed, Sabo found himself falling asleep, not even realizing he'd closed his eyes.

Things were changing, and soon nothing would be the way it used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2019:
> 
> And so ends the wrap-up for the brothers with the Whitebeards. The next two chapters will be about Sabo and Luffy leaving the crew, and then, The Devil Wears White will be over.
> 
> Like most times, I don't have much to say about this chapter. I wanted to show a more in depth look at how everything has changed since this has all started, from the brothers being carefree children, to tortured kids, to traumatized teens, and now, nearly healed teenagers. Everything they've been through has shaped who they are today, how they experience the world, how they interact with others. If they hadn't gone through everything that was the facility, then they wouldn't be as damaged as they are now and everything would have worked out like in canon. This isn't canon though, and from here, things will continue to be different.


	99. Leaving the Whitebeard Pirates

The morning light was bright, birds were chirping cheerfully above them, and the sky was a clear blue that only added to the picturesque day. It wasn't too hot out, and a light breeze was blowing, helping cool down anyone who needed it.

Luffy's birthday was still two months away, and Sabo's was only a few days away, but today, they were celebrating the both of them.

Sabo had finally decided on joining the Revolutionary Army, telling Whitebeard as much, and it was decided that he would leave along with Luffy. Because Luffy wanted to set sail on his seventeenth birthday back on their home island, they would be leaving today after lunch to ensure they got there slightly before, or on, his birthday. Ace, Sabo, and Marco would all go along with him, and once there Sabo would be picked up by Koala while Luffy went off on his own and Marco and Ace went back to the Moby.

Of course, they were going to make sure to say hello to Makino, and even Dadan, while they were there.

Although many had wanted to come along on the journey, Whitebeard had decided Marco would be enough, much to many of the commanders' disappointment. Both Luffy and Sabo were highly encouraged to bring along mini den dens, everyone insisting they just needed to call if they needed help. Despite Luffy's adamance that he would be having his own adventure and how he wanted to do things his own way, without help, he still ended up conceding and packing the mini den den with a similar mustache to Whitebeard in his bag.

Sabo hadn't put up any fight, telling everyone that asked that he would bring one along as well. He'd already been planning on doing so, so there was no reason for him to argue otherwise.

The bell for lunch began going off, everyone making their way into the kitchen where there was a giant feast laid out. Thatch and the chefs were going all out, because not only was this an early birthday party for Sabo and Luffy, but it was also they're going away party, and according to him, he wanted it to be not only perfect, but memorable.

Ace and Luffy charged into the galley, the two bickering over who could eat the most, while Sabo watched them with a smile, following at a much more lax pace, in no rush. There was plenty of food for everyone, and even if there wasn't, Thatch was sure to make more.

Luffy and Ace began piling food high on their plates, many cheering them on and placing their bets on who would win the contest. After Sabo got his food he opted to not sit at the table where his brothers were flinging food, instead going towards the commander's table and sitting with them.

"Ah, Sabo, welcome to the civilized table." Izo greeted with a smile. Sabo chuckled as he sat in his seat, plate in front of him.

"You don't want to sit with Ace and Luffy?" Vista asked with a smile. Everyone took a quick glance, watching as a bone flew from the table his two brothers were occupying and flying across the room.

"You know, I really like this shirt and I'd rather not get it dirty sitting over there," Sabo said, everyone turning away from the table.

"Ah, Sabo, I can't believe you two are leaving already! It feels like just yesterday we were welcoming you aboard with open arms!" Thatch said dramatically as he walked up to the table, arms open wide as he began smothering Sabo in a hug.

"Ack- Thatch- gotta breathe!" Sabo said, pushing on the chef's chest in an attempt to get out of the hold.

"Thatch, let him go, yoi," Marco said with a sigh.

"But Marco~! You're only saying that because you get to go drop them off! This is the last time I'll see him in a while, and that means I have to get all my hugs in now!" Thatch told the first Commander with a pout, hugging Sabo harder.

"I'm not rubber like Luffy!" Sabo squeaked, practically feeling his bones getting crushed beneath Thatch's grip.

"Thatch," Jozu said with a hint of worry, concern on his face as he watched Sabo's face begin to go purple.

"Oh, fine." Thatch said, finally letting go of Sabo who gasped for air.

"Geez, Thatch, are you trying to kill me?" Sabo asked in a joking matter, but only barely.

"Of course not!" Thatch said in a slightly offended tone, sitting across from Sabo now.

"Coulda fooled me," Haruta muttered from his spot.

"Hey! I'll have you know-"

"No, Luffy, just because you eat the plate too doesn't mean you get bonus points. Don't do that." Sabo called out to Ace and Luffy, interrupting Thatch.

" _Aww!_ " Luffy whined but was quick to dig back into his food, not wanting to fall behind. There were a few whines from the crowd watching the two, probably from the ones rooting for Luffy, and Sabo shook his head, turning his attention back to the Commanders.

"It'll be weird to not have your all hearing ears listening in everywhere," Haruta told Sabo, propping his elbow on the table and resting his cheek in his hand.

"I thought you hated my ability to overhear you come up with new betting opportunities," Sabo said with a smirk, Haruta glaring at him.

"Only because you told Marco every time and he shut it all down before I could even start!" Haruta accused. Sabo began eating, putting on an air of innocence.

"What do you mean? I never told Marco anything. Just because Luffy just so happened to overhear me talking to Ace about it, and then he told Marco doesn't mean I did it purposefully." He said, still smirking as he ate.

"I can't wait for you to be gone," Haruta said, still glaring, which only made Sabo laugh.

"I'll miss you too," Sabo told the Commander, deciding to stop teasing now.

It was bittersweet, knowing this would be the last day with the Whitebeards. He wasn't sure if Luffy was feeling the same way or not, but he was sure he was at least a little sad that they would be leaving. Not only would they leave behind the pirates they'd been apart of for years, but they'd also be leaving Ace behind, they're brother that they hadn't separated from all their life. For the most part at least.

Sabo pushed away those thoughts. There was still another two months until they were truly going to be apart, so for now, he should enjoy the festivities while he could.

Ace and Luffy's contest went on until Ace had a narcolepsy attack, knocking him out and allowing Luffy to get ahead of him. Ace fought about how that was unfair, and before a true winner could be declared the two had dissolved into a fight amongst themselves on who was the rightful winner, Ace arguing that even if Luffy won, it wasn't a true win, to which Luffy argued it was.

In the end, it became a stalemate, everyone who had bet on one or the other losing their money to those who had bet on the two ending in a tie.

Meanwhile, Sabo had actual meaningful conversations with the Commanders and Whitebeard, all while eating peacefully. Sure, he could hear the arguing going on behind him, but years of training allowed him to ignore it and let the two handle it themselves.

Until they dragged him into it that is.

"Sabo, tell him, I was winning fair and square!" Luffy said, pointing to Ace accusatorily as he shouted to Sabo from the table he sat at.

"No way! Sabo, tell him I can't help that I fall asleep so he should have stopped and waited till I woke up!" Ace shouted, pointing to Luffy in the same way the youngest was doing to him. Sabo pinched his nose, the commanders smiling, and some even laughing, as they watched.

"You both lose," Sabo told them, making them gape at him.

"What?!" They asked in surprise.

"Yup. You both stopped eating at the same time. You both lose." Sabo told them, not even looking at them. Honestly, he didn't even know if that was true, he hadn't been watching, but he was just fine with telling them that. Luffy wouldn't feel a lie either, because, for all he knew, it was the truth.

"Rematch!" The two yelled in unison, getting cheered on by both the losers and the winners of the previous betting match. With that announcement, another food eating contest commenced, Ace and Luffy going in full force as they shoved and elbowed each other, each trying to out-eat the other. Sabo shook his head at his brothers' antics but went right back to actively ignoring them.

Lunch went on and all the while the atmosphere remained cheery and light. It was a party after all, so there were plenty of drinks being had which only elevated the mood more. Ace and Luffy continued to have their contest until both were too full to continue eating anymore, another argument starting on who won that round starting while those who had bet on them argued with each other as well, all of them wanting to be winners.

Sabo and the Commanders, as well as Whitebeard, all listened on with smiles and laughs, not getting involved in the drama of the betting tables. Overall, it was a fun-filled afternoon, everyone eating, drinking, laughing and having fun despite the arguments.

Once the majority of the room had finished eating their lunch, Thatch and a few other chefs disappeared into the kitchen, Sabo already knowing why. He stood from the table and went over to Ace and Luffy, sitting in between them and pushing them apart.

"Alright you two, calm down." He said, confusing the two with his sudden appearance.

"Sabo? Hey, you were listening, right? Tell him I won!" Ace said, getting over his confusion rather quickly as he remembered what he had been arguing about moments ago. Sabo sighed, and before Luffy could pipe up with his own argument, he spoke.

"Actually, I wasn't listening, I was ignoring you two children. Besides, I'm not here to settle your argument." Sabo told them, once again confusing them.

"What? But why not?" Luffy whined, obviously thinking that Sabo should be the one to do so.

"Not only because it's not my issue, but also because Thatch and the others seem to be bringing out the-"

"Cake!" Luffy cheered happily, smelling the sweet treat coming his way, eyes widening as he turned to look for it. Sabo smiled at that, nodding.

"Yes, cake." He said, not even mad his excitable little brother had interrupted him. Ace seemed pleased with the idea of the dessert as well, argument forgotten as even he turned to watch the cake being brought over to their table. It was tall, had many layers, and was artfully iced and decorated with two hat toppers that looked like Sabo and Luffy's hats, along with a big Happy Birthday spelled out on the front of the cake, candles decorating the many layers.

Immediately the galley was singing the familiar tune of Happy Birthday, Luffy basking in all the love and happiness in the room while Sabo smiled and accepted that there was no getting out of having his name thrown into the song. He, like Ace, had never been too fond of his birthday. He'd always remember his days of being trapped with his parents in stuffy parties that were too uptight and being smothered with expensive gifts. Here, though, there was no stuffiness, or expensive gifts, or snooty looks as everyone watched your every move. Here, it was only filled with love, and well wishes, and maybe a few inexpensive gifts here and there.

As the song came to a close and the cake was set on the table in front of Sabo and Luffy, the two stood, each taking half as they blew out the candles. Applaud rang throughout the room and more drinks were gotten as everyone celebrated.

"I hope you two made your wishes!" Thatch told them, beginning to take the candles off so he could slice the cake.

"Mm! I made the best wish ever! Sabo, did you make a wish too?" Luffy asked smile stretched wide on his face in his typical D fashion as he looked to the blonde.

"Of course. Remember Luffy, you're not supposed to tell your wishes or they won't come true." Sabo said, accepting a plate of cake from Thatch.

"Right!" Luffy said firmly, determined not to say his wish aloud now as he also accepted a plate, a much larger slice of cake on it. Even though he'd been full from lunch only minutes ago, he was ready for more and was quick to dig into his dessert.

Cake was passed out, songs were sung, and many laughs were shared. Eventually, though, lunch came to a close and everyone slowly milled out onto the deck, everyone already knowing what was coming next.

Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and Marco all went to their rooms to grab their things, and soon enough they were at the railing, the mini Moby they would be using tied to the railing so it wouldn't float away. It was time for them to leave after being with the Whitebeards for three whole years.

"You two better take good care of yourselves! And Luffy, make sure your chef knows about how much you eat!" Thatch said, sniffling as he dabbed tears from his eyes with a handkerchief.

"And make sure you have someone who can stitch! You have a habit of ripping things." Izo said, pointing a finger at the teen who nodded.

"And a swordsman!" Vista piped up, Haruta shouting a noise of agreement with that.

"A navigator too, your direction sucks!"

"Doctor! Doctors are important!"

"What about a shipwright? Luffy would get his ship destroyed in seconds without one!"

The list went on as the worried crew thought of things Luffy would need, and Luffy nodded along to every suggestion, smiling wide and eyes sparkling at the idea of how much fun he was going to have.

"Luffy, Sabo, good, you haven't left yet." Whiskey said as she walked over, two files in hand as she did.

"Whiskey. No, we haven't, we're just about too though." Sabo told the head nurse.

"Well, before you go, Luffy, these are a copy of your medical records. When you find a doctor you trust, give them these. They detail everything, from the state you were in when you first arrived here, to your abilities, to every cut scrape and bruise you've had since you've been here." Whiskey said to Luffy, handing him one of the files filled with papers. Ace took them, putting them into the teen's bag.

"If you lose them or they get destroyed, give me a call when you find your doctor and I can tell them about it that way. Sabo, these are yours. I expect you to give them to your doctor as well." She said, handing Sabo a similar-looking file which he also packed away in his bag.

"Thank you Whiskey," Sabo said with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks Whiskey!" Luffy chirped happily, almost bouncing in anticipation to head off. Marco, who had been on the Mini Moby making sure things were all set to go, flew back now, landing beside them and smiling.

"Ready to go when you are, yoi," He said to them. Sabo nodded, looking to Luffy who began laughing to himself in excitement.

"See you guys later!" Luffy called out to everyone, waving as he did and still grinning his D smile.

"Bye Luffy! Bye Sabo!" The crew called back, loud and rambunctious as they all began waving back. Whitebeards laugh was loud and rumbling over all of them.

"We'll see you again soon my sons. Have fun on your journeys." Whitebeard said to them.

"Bye Oyaji." Luffy and Sabo said simultaneously, though Luffys was much louder than his due to his brother's excitement. Farewells said, the group of four began gathering their things and making their way to the Mini Moby, the others still calling out their goodbyes and well wishes as they did. Now onboard the mini Moby, with one final call of farewell, they were heading off towards Goa Island all the way in the East Blue.

Finally, Luffy and Sabo's journeys were going to be starting. They were finally leaving the Whitebeards, finally going to fulfill their dreams.

It was bittersweet watching the Moby slowly grow further away from them, and eventually, they couldn't see it any longer. After a two month journey, Sabo and Luffy would be watching the Mini Moby drift away as well, and then they would be on their own. It was exciting to think about, but Sabo knew he would miss the constant rowdiness of the Whitebeards, the unique personalities of the commanders, the friend's he'd made in the second division, and Whitebeard himself. The man was truly a father figure for all three of the brothers now, and time after time he had proven to them that they could come to him about anything and he would sit and listen without question.

To leave that all behind was sad, but Sabo had to look to the future. He was going to start helping make a difference in the world, start liberating facilities and actively working to take down the Marines. Luffy was going to become a pirate like he'd always dreamed of doing, one that Sabo knew without a doubt would cause all sorts of trouble for the marines.

If he didn't know how scummy and corrupt the Marines were, he might actually feel a bit bad for them. As it was now, though, he hoped that Luffy gave them hell with every island and every adventure he had.

Knowing Luffy, that was definitely going to be the case.


	100. And so the Adventure Begins Anew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, The Devil Wears White is over once more. All 100 chapters have moved over from Fanfiction and are now here on Archive for you all to enjoy. There will be a sequel to this story, and if you want to know more about that there will be notes at the end of this chapter. When I do write the sequel, I will be uploading it here as well as Fanfiction.net. Thank you all for reading this story, giving it Kudos, bookmarking, and commenting! I'm still new to AO3 and getting used to everything, but the support and love that you guys show my stories is the same no matter the platform. 
> 
> Anyways, I'll leave you guys with that for now. Thank you all again for everything, and see you on the next adventure!

Life on the Mini Moby was relatively quiet. They sailed on through the turbulent waters of Paradise- though nothing was as turbulent as the waters of the New World- and they would occasionally dock at an island to resupply when necessary.

Luffy's birthday was drawing nearer every day, yet their journey was only yet beginning. They still had most of Paradise to get through, but so far they were still on schedule, even with the few setbacks they'd had due to bad weather.

As days passed, they became weeks, and then a whole month. Marco would make sure to call the Moby and tell everyone their progress to the island- Ace, Sabo, and Luffy always hearing a commotion as everyone asked how they were, if everything was going alright, or if they decided they actually wanted to come back to the Moby instead. It was the same every time, and Sabo and Luffy would always reassure them that, no, as much as they loved and missed them, they would not be returning to the Moby anytime soon. Groans and protests would meet this answer, but they only laughed about it and ignored it, Ace smirking as he told them all to get over it, that he was the one who should be begging them to stay, not them.

By the time they were finally in the East Blue, they only had a couple of weeks left to get to Dawn Island before Luffy's birthday would be upon them. None of them were worried though. Luffy was constantly reminding them that even if they weren't there on his birthday, it would be fine because they hadn't escaped the facility on Ace or Sabo's birthdays. This meant that they weren't exactly in a rush to get to their home island, even if they all were excited to go back.

They hadn't been back in a decade, taken from their home island when they were only kids. Now they were adults, save for Luffy who was only turning 17 in the next couple weeks. Ace and Sabo both were 20 now, and while many on the Moby argued that they were still only kids in their eyes compared them, it didn't change the fact that they were adults.

It felt strange to finally be returning to their home, and Sabo was sure Ace felt the same trepidation about returning as he did. There was no need to worry over returning- after all, it's not like they were returning for good. They were only going for a short visit and then they would all be leaving again, but the prospect of seeing it all again, the jungle, the animals, Makino, even Dadan and the Bandits. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.

Surely, news of them had reached the island and they all knew the brothers were alive and ok, but what if it hadn't? What if Garp never told them that the brothers were ok, and they just suddenly showed up there without any warning?

Thoughts like that these were the ones that Sabo pushed aside; ones they didn't allow himself to think about any longer than a few minutes. With the way Luffy was looking at him, his brother was taking notice of his worrying feelings, but he said nothing, instead giving Sabo a smile and going to sit on the railing, kicking his feet over the water below him.

Times like this, Sabo thought that Luffy was much more mature then he let on, but when only a few minutes later the youngest was picking his nose and flinging what stuck to his finger at Ace, causing a fight, he thought otherwise.

Marco sighing beside him told him the Commander was probably thinking the same thing as him.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

It was the day before Luffy's birthday that they finally arrived to the island they called home. Luffy had spotted it early in the morning, having been too excited to sleep any longer and going to sit on the deck like he had been doing most of the journey.

After running into the room Ace and Sabo were sleeping in and waking them, Ace went and confirmed it was Dawn Island -not that there was any doubt- and all three of the brothers felt their excitement rise at the prospect that they were finally there.

None of them went to wake Marco, instead, they all sat on the railing together, watching the island grow closer and closer, the sun slowly rising in the distance and seagulls flying above them.

It was quiet, it was peaceful, and it was probably going to be their last day together in a long while. While seeing the island was nice, and thoughts of a short adventure while they were there crossed all of their minds, this was also the place they would be saying goodbye to each other from. For an entire decade of their lives, they'd always been together, never left each other for no longer than a simple mission from Whitebeard, but now they were about to all separate, follow their dreams, without each other. Sure, they no doubt would visit each other again someday, maybe even relatively soon from now, but the not knowing, the mystery behind when they would see each other again, had never been something they'd needed to worry about before.

Now, though, they were facing that reality, the reality that today was a day of goodbyes just as much as it was a day of new beginnings.

Eventually, the sun was high in the morning sky and Marco was walking out on deck. He didn't bother them except for telling them that they'd need to prepare to dock soon, and then he left them to sit there silently together.

Marco was right of course, and before they'd even had a chance to eat breakfast, everyone was getting the Mini Moby ready to dock. They decided their best course of action was to attempt to dock at the village seeing as the other side of the island was far too close to the Noble Town and trash heap filled with thugs and thieves. While the villagers might be concerned, or scared even, to see a Whitebeards ship docking at their small village, it was better than docking on the other side of the island where they'd be at risk for some desperate idiot to wander on board and attempt to steal from the Moby while they were gone.

Luffy could already feel the concern and fear from the villagers as they slowly grew closer to the island, and soon enough there was a crowd forming at the docks, everyone wanting to see what was happening first hand.

"So this is where you three grew up then, huh?" Marco asked as he secured the rigging.

"Here? Naw, well, at least, Sabo and I didn't live here. We lived in those mountains up there." Ace told him, pointing to said mountains as he helped Marco.

"Ah, makes sense. I was wondering where the giant tigers and bears came into play, yoi." Marco said with a smile, remembering some of the brothers' tales of fighting giant animals for their meals.

"And boar and monkeys and gators. Every animal there is giant really." Sabo piped up from his spot on the deck, doing the most important job; making sure Luffy didn't rocket off without them.

"Yeah! We gotta catch a gator before we leave! Its been forever since we've had one!" Luffy said, fists flying in the air in excitement.

"We'll see. We have a tight schedule to keep." Sabo told the teen in an attempt to keep him wrangled in, though even he was excited by the prospect of catching a gator. It had been far too long since they'd had gator meat, and it was always one of the brothers' favorites.

"First we have to worry about all of them." Ace said, gesturing to the still worried and scared villagers watching them. In the front, he could see an old man that was vaguely familiar to him as the mayor of the town, recognizing him from the brief few times he'd come to visit Luffy up on the mountain with Makino.

Speaking of, the green-haired barmaid was there as well, right beside the mayor as she held her hands to her chest, worry etched into her features, and he felt a bit bad now about not thinking to send a notice ahead to keep this from happening.

"Can we go now?" Luffy asked eagerly, attention back on the island he so desperately wanted to step foot on again.

"Alright, alright, it looks like we're all set. Let's go, yoi." Marco said with a sigh as Luffy cheered, Sabo once again stopping him from rocketing and instead telling him to use the rope ladder like the rest of them. He was met with a pout, but Luffy did it anyways, his smile back within seconds as they threw the rope down and began leaving the Mini Moby.

"I'm Whoop Slap, the mayor of this town. I ask that you please do not cause harm to this village, we'll be happy to pay you whatever necessary for your cooperation." The mayor said as they walked over to the crowd, Marco at the head. Marco looked like he was about to speak, mouth opening and no doubt prepared to ease the crowd's worries, but he was stopped when Luffy slipped from Sabo's grip and pushed past Marco.

"Whoop Slap! And Makino!" Luffy called out loudly and happily, D smile on his face as he greeted them. The mayor's eyes widened in surprise, and Makino gasped behind him, hands flying to her mouth now as tears formed.

"Luffy?!" Makino cried as she immediately recognized the teen. Luffy laughed, which was answer enough for her as she darted forward, hugging Luffy tightly as the crowd began whispering in astonishment around them.

"I can't believe it's you! And Ace and Sabo too! My you boys have grown!" She said, some of those tears falling now, but Luffy could feel just how elated the barmaid was to see them.

"After all these years. I gotta say, I didn't expect to see you three no good brats again." Whoop Slap said, eyes still wide in shock. Luffy laughed again while Makino moved to hug Ace and Sabo, the former flushing lightly at the affection while Sabo got a bit flustered himself. He and Ace had never been as close to Makino as Luffy had been, they'd only seen her a few times after all, so it was a bit strange for them to be receiving the same attention as Luffy was. Honestly, they hadn't really expected the woman to remember them.

"How are you guys? Oh, and who's this?" Makino asked, finally remembering Marco was there, the man having remained silent as he let the three brothers reunite with the woman.

"I'm Marco, yoi." He introduced, Makino smiling to him.

"First commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, of course. I'm Makino, it's a pleasure to meet you." She greeted, bowing to the man who waved off the formalities.

"I've seen your wanted posters and I'd heard you were with the Whitebeards, but I never knew for sure. Garp came every once in a while, but he never said much about whatever it was you three were up to, just that you were safe." Makino said to them, the crowd beginning to disperse from the docks now, though there were still many whispers going around that Sabo could clearly hear.

Many of the villagers seemed to recognize Luffy, all of them happy to see him, but they were all curious as to what had happened to him, and not to mention everything they'd seen about him in the papers. There was also the fact that none of them knew Ace or Sabo, as well as Marco, except for the fact that they were all notorious pirates as well.

To put it bluntly, the villagers were suspicious of them, which was to be expected.

All that was left at the docks was Makino, the Mayor, and the group of Whitebeards.

"That's true, we've been apart of the Whitebeards for about three years now after they, uh, helped us out," Sabo said, Makino and the Mayor seeming to pick up on his meaning as they glanced to his wrist.

"Yes, we've also heard about this, _'Mental Hospital'_ you three escaped from. Regardless of whether I think that's where you three brats belong or not, the Marines should know better than to think families wouldn't realize they didn't send their children to these places. I doubt that Mountain Bandit up there was going to defy Garp and ship you three off." The Mayor said with a frown, obviously not believing the Marines words on where the brothers had been taken. Ace scoffed, arms crossing over his chest at the Mayor's words.

"I think Dadan would rather get rid of all her alcohol before she would do anything to Garp's grandchildren." Ace agreed, the two nodding with each other at the thought.

"Why don't we head to my bar? I'll make you all something to eat, so long as you all are hungry that is." Makino said with a knowing smile. Within seconds Luffy was cheering and running off towards where he knew the Partys Bar to be while Ace and Sabo could only blink at their brother.

"Oi, Luffy, wait for us, we don't know where we're going!" Ace shouted at Luffy, running after him while Sabo opted to stay with Makino and the Mayor, as well as Marco.

"It seems his appetites still the same," Makino said with a fond smile as she began leading the rest to her bar, Sabo nodding to her words. The barmaid had been there when Luffy had eaten his devil fruit, and consequently when he began having a never-ending pit for a stomach when it came to eating food. She almost longed for the days when she could make one plate for the boy and he'd be satisfied, but then Luffy wouldn't be Luffy if that were the case.

"That's for sure. If anything, it's only grown." Sabo told her with a smile of his own, Marco nodding his agreement. He didn't know Luffy as a child, but since his time on the Moby, it seemed that the boy could eat more and more with every passing day.

"You boys better tell me about everything you've been up to. Newspapers just aren't the same." Makino said as they all reached the building now, Luffy and Ace sitting at the bar.

"Of course." Sabo agreed, he and Marco sitting at the bar as well.

"As much as I would love to stay and chat, I have matters I need to attend to. Don't you brats cause any trouble now, you hear?" The Mayor said, giving the brothers a stern look, pointing at them accusingly. The three nodded, saying their farewells as the man left.

"So, how long are you planning on staying?" Makino asked as she began preparing the food, giving them all drinks while they waited.

"Only for the day." Ace answered, and Luffy could feel the aching pull from the woman at the response.

"So soon?" She asked softly, though she was still smiling.

"Well, Luffy here wanted to set off to become a pirate Captain of his own, but he was adamant about setting sail here on Dawn Island. We all decided we would come drop him off so we could visit, but I'm also going to be joining the Revolutionary Army. A friend is going to pick me up here." Sabo explained.

"Marco and I will be going back to the Moby," Ace added, Marco nodding.

"You boys are all grown up now," Makino said wistfully, making Ace and Sabo flush again while Luffy laughed and grinned.

The brothers shared stories with Makino about their adventures as pirates, told her how Ace was the second division commander, how Luffy and Sabo were apart of the Second division, how they'd visited islands like Fishman Island and Sabaody. Makino listened attentively the entire time, smile on her face as she did. Luffy could feel the joy, the pride, coming from the woman and it made him even happier that they'd had the chance to come visit the island.

Marco would jump in every once in a while, adding his side to many of the stories and making Makino laugh when the brothers got defensive at accusations Marco would make against them. Eventually, the food was gone, and the brothers were full. The stories came to an end and they all sat in silence, smiles on their faces.

Of course, silence never lasts long with Luffy.

"Can we go see Dadan now?" He asked excitedly, Makino laughing at his energy.

"Sure, sure." Ace said with a sigh, standing from the stool.

"Thank you for the food, Makino," Sabo told the barmaid as he stood as well.

"Oh, it was no problem! Now you make sure to come and say goodbye to me before you all leave for good, got it? I don't want you trying to sneak off thinking it's ok to leave me without a proper farewell." She said sternly, narrowing her eyes at all of them.

"We'll make sure to come back." Sabo agreed, smiling to the woman. She smiled back, nodding.

"Good. Now get going, I'm sure Dadan will love to see you three again." She said to them with a knowing smile on her face. They nodded to her, all leaving the bar now with promises to come back later.

"So, who's Dadan, yoi?" Marco asked, only having heard the name a few times in one of the brothers' stories, but never prying to find out who the woman was.

"Ah, she's our... guardian? I guess." Sabo said, trying to find a word to fit the woman.

"Shes a hag is what she is." Ace said with a smirk, leading them towards the mountains.

"She basically raised Ace after Garp dropped him off to her as a baby. Then she was in charge of Luffy when Garp left him and then me when I kind of invited myself to live with these two." Sabo explained to Marco who was still in the dark.

"Shes a mountain bandit!" Luffy told him with a grin.

"Oh? Can't say I'm surprised to know you three were raised by mountain bandits." Marco admitted with a laugh.

As they began their hike to the bandits hut the brothers felt nostalgia rise within them as they were slowly covered by the jungle. Soon they were walking familiar paths and listening to familiar sounds of animals moving throughout the trees around them. They weren't disturbed on their way to the hut, all the animals staying away from them, and the brothers felt a bit disappointed they hadn't been able to fight anything yet.

They didn't have long to feel bad about it, because now they were walking up to the bandit's hut that they all hadn't seen in a decade. There was no hesitation as they walked up to the hut, but once they were at the door, Ace tilted his head in confusion.

"Do we knock or do we just walk right in?" Ace asked, obviously debating his options. While he wanted to just walk in and surprise them all, maybe get in a good fight with the few who would no doubt attack him, he also knew enough from Sabo's drilling of manners that that wasn't polite, even if the bandits were anything but.

"Knowing Dadan, the place probably reeks of alcohol. May as well knock and make her come out rather than go in there." Sabo said, remembering the reek of the place. As a child living in a trash dump, the smell hadn't been bad in comparison, but after living in the open air on a pirate ship, he knew he would think differently now.

"It does. It smells like dirty clothes too." Luffy said, nose scrunching at the smell, sharing Sabo's sentiments.

"Knocking it is then." Ace said, already raising a fist to do so. Marco stood off to the side as he watched the brothers, not wanting to interfere in another of the brothers' reunions. He'd done well staying out of the way at the bar, and he planned to do the same here.

Well, that was until the door opened and a sword was being pointed at Aces throat.

"Give us all your money and you just might walk away with your life." A voice said, not visible to Marco from where he stood, tensed and ready to help if necessary. He knew these people were bandits, practically family to the brothers, but the sword was saying otherwise.

"Ah, Dogra, perfect, go get the old hag Dadan." Ace said with a smirk, obviously not concerned by the sword at his throat, Sabo or Luffy either. Marco calmed at this, knowing that if it was truly dangerous then the brothers wouldn't remain so calm. Plus, Ace was fire, and here in the East Blue Marco didn't have to worry about a few bandits knowing how to use haki or being in possession of seastone.

"I don't think you heard me correctly-"

"Oi, Dadan! Come outside, it's smelly in there!" Luffy called, ignoring Dogra as he stuck his head in the hut, yelling into it. Dogra blinked but was ready to attack Luffy when he paused, seeming to finally connect the dots as to who he was looking at.

"Wait-... wha-?" He stumbled back, falling onto his butt as he did, eyes wide as he looked at the brothers. Marco got closer, interested and amused by what was happening.

"Who dares call for me-" Whatever was going to be said was stopped as a large woman with curly red hair came to the door, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo all grinning widely to her and raising their hands to wave.

"Yo." They all said simultaneously. There was a moment of silence, Dogra still in shock on the ground and Dadan staring unblinkingly at the brothers.

"Ace, Sabo and Luffy?" She asked plainly, no emotion in her voice as she spoke, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Good to know your memory's still intact in your old age," Sabo said to the woman, Marco picking up on the teasing in his voice and wondering just what kind of relationship the brothers had with their so-called guardian. Ever since the Whitebeards had known the brothers, Sabo had been the polite one, even around them. Sure he would sometimes tease them, but there was always an air of politeness to his words when he spoke. Here, Marco could hear none of that, only an uncouth manner as he regarded the woman in front of him.

"My memory is damn near perfect, and who are you calling old you damn brat?!" Dadan roared, making Ace and Luffy laugh while Sabo continued grinning.

"Shishishi! Hi Dadan!" Luffy laughed, grin never leaving his face for a moment as he allowed all of the woman's happiness to drift into him.

"Y-you-... You damn brats!" She yelled, Marco sweat dropping at the exclamation, said with what sounded like anger, but the struggle to keep the facade up showing him that she wasn't angry at all. The fact that the woman was tearing up now didn't help either.

"Where've you three been all this time, huh?!" She asked, Dogra getting up off the floor finally and running off into the hut.

"Ah, you know, here there, pirating, adventuring. The usual." Ace said, waving his hand around as he spoke flippantly, only giving more fuel to Dadan's fire, some of the anger on her face true now.

"I expect a full explanation! First you three go missing out of the blue and I've got to tell Garp about it, then I hear you're with the Whitebeard Pirates of all people, and now here you are without so much as a letter?!" She yelled at them, but again, the brothers looked unfazed, Ace turning and walking towards the surrounding jungle.

"Anyways, nice seeing you again Dadan, we'll go and get you a bear or something. Be back soon." He said, Sabo and Luffy following without a word. Marco looked back and forth between the woman and the brothers, not quite following what was happening. Weren't they supposed to be visiting this woman? Talking? Catching up? But instead, they were leaving after such a short hello, heading right into the jungle.

"Where do you brats think you're going?!" Dadan called after them, though not doing much to chase after them, tears beginning to form again as bandits began pouring out of the hut.

"-Is it really?!"

"-They're back?"

"-You sure you aren't drunk still?"

Marco didn't know what to do in this situation, and before he knew it the large woman's ferocious eyes were on him.

" _And who are you?!_ " She asked, that anger very much real now as she addressed him.

"Come on Marco, Luffy's wants you to see Tiger Lord and prove how big he is!" Sabo called, turning to look at the Commander.

"Nice meeting you," Marco told the bandits before walking off towards the brothers, still thoroughly confused by what had just happened. Once he caught up with the three they were chatting amicably amongst themselves, entirely relaxed here in a jungle where Marco could hear all sorts of animals moving about. No doubt, the brothers knew what they were doing, knew of the animals surrounding them, and yet they paid it no mind, at complete ease.

"Ne, do you think the treehouse is still up?" Luffy asked, Ace and Sabo humming.

"Maybe. Its been a while though, and no one's been around to repair it after storms. If it is up, its probably in shambles." Ace said as he thought about it.

"Most likely. Hey, what about our pirate fund? You think anyone's ever found that?" Sabo asked, smiling.

"Those idiots in the Grey Terminal? Yeah right, no one ever went anywhere near our pirate fund, not with all the animals they'd have to go through to get to it." Ace scoffed.

"Yeah, Ace and Sabo are good at hiding things! I bet no ones found it!" Luffy agreed. Marco definitely felt like a fourth wheel, but he didn't mind, not with how happy the brothers looked to be back on their home island, their home turf.

It wasn't long after that Sabo was using their silent language to signal that they be quiet, hunching down behind some bushes as he peeked over them towards whatever he was hearing. They all followed suit, crouching behind him and seeing a few large boar moving together a few feet away from where they were hiding.

Marco had to admit, he'd never seen boar that big before, even in Paradise and the New World.

Through another series of quick tapping, the brothers concocted a plan, Marco opting to stay out of it and watch. Luffy was quick to slither up into the tree beside them while Ace began circling the boar, heading to the opposite side of where Sabo was. Marco continued watching as the fight finally commenced, the three brothers all jumping out of their hiding spots at once and taking on one of the giant beasts themselves until they were victorious. Grinning ear to ear, they all grabbed onto their catches, obviously intent on taking them somewhere else other than here.

Another few minutes walk, and they were walking into a clearing, a giant tree in the middle of it and an old worn ladder stuck to it, leading to an equally old looking treehouse, though its condition wasn't all that bad save for a few missing boards.

"Held up better then I thought it would." Ace admitted, throwing his boar into the clearing as he looked up at the house.

"I'm gonna go look inside!" Luffy said, throwing his boar with Aces before flinging his arms up to the treehouse and rocketing up to it, skipping the ladder entirely.

"I'll go check if our pirate funds still there and keep an ear out for that bear you promised Dadan," Sabo told Ace before heading off into the jungle again, but not before leaving behind his boar as well. Ace got to work on making a fire, Marco helping to gather some wood for it before they started cooking the boar. They could hear, and occasionally see, Luffy traipsing throughout the treehouse, laughing ringing through the air as he did. Obviously, the treehouse was in much better condition then they all had thought if it could hold up against Luffy's rampage.

Well, that was until a half-hour later when there was a crack and Luffy's foot was visible from the bottom of the wooden house. More laughter rang out, and a rustle from the nearby trees signaled Sabo was back, the blonde shaking his head as he saw Luffy's foot slip back into the treehouse.

"Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't fallen out of that." He said as he looked up at the house, a small chest at his side.

"Oi, look what I found!" Luffy called, head peeking out of the window and holding something in his hands; Ace and Sabo's smiles widened if possible.

"Careful with those Luffy! Bring 'em down!" Ace called back, Luffy nodding and disappearing before jumping out of the window and landing on the ground unharmed, three red sake cups in his hands.

"I was able to find both a bear, and our pirate fund while I was out, but I think Luffy outdid me with this find," Sabo said fondly, grabbing one of the cups and spinning it in his hand as he examined it, a look of nostalgia on his face that made Marco realize these cups held more importance then he had first thought.

They didn't say anything more about them though, each placing one of the cups by the chest Sabo had brought back before they divvied up the food. Knowing better than to let the brothers decide his portion, Marco got his own food and watched as Ace and Luffy fought over theirs. Sabo told them where they could find the bear as they ate, Luffy and Ace only stopping in their grudge match momentarily to hear before going back at it again.

"Pirate fund, huh, yoi?" Marco asked, nodding to the box on the ground, talking to Sabo while the other two fought.

"Yeah. All three of us wanted to be pirates, even when we were little- before the facility ever happened. Ace and I started collecting money together and called it the pirate fund, and when Luffy came he helped too. We planned on saving up enough to buy a ship, but we never had much chance to do that. Doesn't mean there isn't a good amount in here though." Sabo said, patting the chest with a smile, and Marco wondered if the brothers hadn't smiled since they'd landed on the island.

Lunch was done rather quickly, more of a snack than an actual meal seeing as Luffy and Ace had only gotten one giant boar each while Sabo and Marco shared one. This was forgotten though as Marco took charge of carrying both the pirate fund and the sake cups for the brothers so they could fight the bear they were now on the way to get for Dadan.

As with the boar, the bear was bigger than Marco had ever seen before, but the brothers were able to take it down quickly and efficiently, Ace dragging it on his own as they headed back to the bandit's hut.

The walk back was relatively quick, an idle chatter coming from them as the brothers shared stories of their many adventures as children with Marco, and after seeing the island for himself, Marco was able to better picture the giant animals that the brothers were describing.

Once they were back at the hut, the three brothers didn't even bother knocking this time, instead kicking the door open and walking in as if they'd been here for years.

"Food, as promised." Ace called out, the room silencing as the eldest of the brothers threw the animal onto the table.

"It's only because you brought us a bear that I'm not thrashing you three for suddenly appearing like you did!" Dadan shouted angrily at them, stuffing a handkerchief into her pocket and sniffling, obviously having been crying before they entered. It seemed most everyone in the room had been crying if the red puffy eyes and running noses were anything to go on.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say you hag." Ace told the woman, smirking again as he spoke. Dadan glared at him, but Marco could see there was no heat to it as she stared the fire user down.

"Sit down you brats and tell me where you've been. And introduce your friend while you're at it!" She yelled, the brothers laughing again as they moved to sit with the woman, Marco following.

It was much like how it had been at the bar, except this time there was a giant food fight happening around them as they spoke. Food flew in every direction as every man fought for his own portion of the meat from the bear Ace had brought. Marco could now see where Ace and Luffy had learned to eat, realizing they had to eat the way they did if they wanted anything at all. He guessed he should be grateful Sabo hadn't been influenced enough to do the same, or else meals on the Moby would have been much more chaotic than they already were.

The brothers told Dadan all the same stories they shared with Makino, even going so far as to tell the bandit where they'd been taken that fateful day. Even though the brothers didn't want the woman to feel any guilt for not getting to them in time, they knew that she had a right to know what had happened to them, and if she found out they were trying to spare her feelings by not telling, she would be highly offended.

Even though Dadan was an old hag, she was still someone they cared about deeply.

Once the story was over and they told Dadan the purpose of visiting the island, they began getting ready to leave. Sabo had called Koala when they'd first seen Dawn Island in the distance from the Mini Moby, telling her they would be there that day, and Koala had told him she would be there a little after lunch. Seeing as this was the case, the group was now going to go back to town and say their goodbyes to the blonde, the first of the three to leave.

Of course, Dadan wasn't going to show that she was sad about the brothers' departure, and instead, she began shouting at them, telling them to get lost and that she didn't want to see their faces again, but the brothers all knew that that was just the woman's way of showing affection.

It really was no wonder Ace had such a difficult time dealing with his emotions when Dadan was the one to have raised him.

Farewells were had, and once again the group was off, but instead of heading to the village like Marco thought they would, they headed back to the forest, Luffy laughing quietly to himself and Sabo and Ace grinning mischievously.

Deciding to just follow and see what was happening, Marco watched as the brothers headed to a large stump where a tree had once been, and Sabo asked for the red cups Marco was still carrying.

Placing them on the stump, Ace pulled out a bottle of sake, Marco realizing he must have took it from the bandits, and poured it into each cup.

"We might not be on the same ship," Ace said as he poured, Luffy and Sabo still grinning widely as he did.

"But our brotherhood will always be with us!" Ace continued, placing the bottle down.

"Wherever you are, whatever you do, we'll always be bonded together!" All three of them picked up a cup, and Marco realized, like with many other things today, that this was another special moment for the brothers, one that they'd probably shared long ago on this island when they first became brothers.

"We'll always be brothers!" Ace said, Luffy and Sabo cheering as the three clinked their cups together before taking drinks from them. Ace and Sabo had no problem with the taste, but Luffy was quick to stick out his tongue afterward.

"Blah! It still tastes bad!" He groaned. Ace and Sabo began laughing, placing their cups down, and even Marco was trying to stop himself from laughing. Leave it to Luffy to ruin the moment.

Done now, Ace collected the cups again, putting them into the chest Marco was still holding, and with that, they headed to the village, the mood much more somber now as it sunk in for them all that one of them was finally going to be leaving. They all still wore smiles, but there were no words spoken, no stories shared, just silence. Luffy could feel everyone's sadness that Sabo would be leaving, but after all his training on the Moby, he was able to block it out relatively well now. That didn't mean he didn't have his own sad feelings on the subject. As excited as he was to begin his adventure, there was that small part that knew it would be lonely for a while until he found his first crew member.

Once they reached the village Luffy could already smell Koalas scent, remembering it from when they'd first met, and Sabo could hear the girl in the bar, talking to Makino. The group headed to the bar at a slow pace, every step reminding them that they were growing closer to another farewell.

Walking into the Party Bar, Koala was sitting at the bar as expected, drinking from a glass as she and Makino had a chat, both women smiling as they did.

"Oh, you're back! I was just getting myself acquainted with your friend here." Makino said, gesturing to Koala as she noticed the groups return.

"Finally, I was beginning to think you were going to ditch," Koala told Sabo with a smile, though Luffy could feel that the woman was only joking.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sabo told the redhead with a smile of his own.

"Its a bit of a journey where we're going, so whenever you're ready we can get going," Koala told him, knowing that her new coworker was going to have some goodbyes to give. Sabo nodded, and Makino sighed, smiling with a sadder look on her face now.

"Now I don't know much about the Revolutionaries, but you better write when you can. I don't want you thinking you can get out of keeping me updated on how things are going with you." Makino told the blonde, coming out from behind the bar as she hugged Sabo.

"Of course, I'll make sure to do that Makino," Sabo told the woman, knowing he would whenever possible. When he'd first come here, he didn't even know if Makino would remember him but knowing now that she had and that he'd worried her, he'd make sure to not do that again if he could help it.

"Better knock out some doctors for me." Ace told Sabo as he hugged him next, Sabo nodding in agreement.

"That's the plan," Sabo told him, next moving to Luffy who wrapped his rubbery arms around him multiple times.

"Have lots of adventures so you can tell me about them!" Luffy chirped with a smile, Sabo laughing as he allowed the boy to nearly squeeze him to death. When he was finally let go, he took in a deep breath, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"You too Luffy, you better tell me all about whatever it is you're going to get up to," Sabo said, already knowing that his brother was going to have some crazy stories.

"Try and keep Ace from getting himself killed," Sabo told Marco, Ace shouting out in indignation while Luffy and Marco laughed.

"With him, it's a full-time job, yoi," Marco said with a sigh as if he was already exhausted at the thought, but he was still smiling.

With that, the farewells were over, and everyone in the bar began heading out and to the docks. With Sabo leaving, Marco and Ace were going to be leaving as well, and seeing as Luffy's birthday was another day away, he would be staying the night on the island and leaving tomorrow.

They all watched as Sabo and Koala boarded a small ship, waving to them as they set off and left them. They watched them for a minute longer before Ace and Marco began their goodbyes, starting with Makino and then moving to Luffy. Goodbyes were done in much the same way as they were with Sabo, making promises to see each other again and telling each other to stay safe, and when they were finished, Ace grabbed the chest from Marco, handing it to Luffy.

"Seeing as Sabo and I don't need this money for a ship of our own, you can have it, Lu." Ace told him with a smile. Before they'd left, many of the Whitebeards had offered to give Luffy money for whatever he'd need, but Luffy had turned them all down, telling them that he was going to do things his own way and without help. Marco had managed to convince him to take his allowance, arguing that the boy had earned it fair and square through chores and it was rightfully his money, but other than that, he'd turned all other offers for money down.

Now, Luffy frowned at the box for a moment before conceding and taking it, smiling to Ace as he did. Then Luffy was watching the two board the Mini Moby without him or Sabo to go with them.

He and Makino stood at the docks, waving to them until their arms were sore before finally stopping.

"Are you leaving today as well, Luffy?" Makino asked the boy, smiling gently to him despite the sadness Luffy could feel in her. He shook his head, smiling back to her.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, on my 17th birthday." He told her, and the barmaid's smile widened, Luffy feeling a happiness light up within her.

"In that case, you're staying with me for the night." She told him, and the two of them began heading back to Partys Bar.

**_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_ **

That night, Luffy did stay with Makino, and when the next morning came he was filled with even more excitement than the day before. Getting up and ready for the day he grabbed his bag, checking it to make sure everything was still in there. The chest of treasure from Ace sat on top of everything else, and he smiled at it, opening it slightly and smiling wider at the glimpse of red from the sake cups that he could see.

Closing both the chest and the bag, he slung it over his shoulder and left the room, heading downstairs to the bar where he could smell both Makino and something sweet.

"Happy Birthday Luffy!" Makino's voice was full of joy as she presented a small cake with candles on it to the boy. Luffy smiled widely at it, blowing the candles out, and Makino laughed, putting it down and grabbing a knife to slice it, plates and forks already ready.

"I was beginning to wonder if I should wake you. Thomas- do you remember him? He's the fisherman that lives in the house closest to the docks," Makino said, Luffy going to sit at the bar as she spoke.

"Mm! He always gave me fish." Luffy said, remembering the man vaguely.

"That's right! Well, he heard today was your birthday and knew you wanted to set sail today, so he offered up one of his older row boats. It's not much, enough for just two people, maybe three if you try hard enough." Makino said as she cut a slice of cake for herself, giving the rest to Luffy.

"Thanks, Makino!" Luffy said as he dug into the cake. He hadn't exactly thought about how he was going to leave the island, so it was good to know that was no longer an issue. It was also nice that the boat itself wasn't extravagant or anything, just a simple row boat.

"It was no problem. I had a barrel of apples and water put on the ship as well because as much as you don't want any help, I just couldn't let you sail off without food or water." Makino told him, watching with a smile as Luffy finished his cake in the time it took for her to get halfway through her one slice.

"I made you breakfast too. You're not leaving on an empty stomach." She added, Luffy realizing he could smell the cooked food, not having noticed earlier.

"Yosh! Food, and then I'll leave." He said with determination, Makino giggling again as she left to get the food. Luffy looked around the bar as he waited, taking in everything he could. It looked the same as he remembered it , and it seemed like so long ago that he and Shanks' crew were sitting in this very bar, Luffy accidentally eating the gum gum fruit and getting his devil fruit powers.

He didn't have long to think on it though when Makino was returning, steaming food in hand, and he was chowing down yet again.

Luffy and Makino had small conversations as they ate together peacefully, but once it was gone, the two-headed to the docks. A few of the villagers were out, and once they noticed Luffy they smiled, waving to him and saying their good mornings to him. Luffy could feel that the suspicion the villagers had felt yesterday was gone, and now all they were feeling was happiness to see Luffy again.

When the two reached the small boat Makino had mentioned earlier, Luffy smiled, hands on his hips as he took in the sight.

His first boat, and soon, the beginning of his new adventure.

A hug to Makino and another promise to meet again, Luffy got on the boat, setting sail almost the second he had both feet in the boat.

"See you again Luffy!" Makino called as he drifted out. Luffy waved back, laughing gleefully as he did.

"First it was Sabo, then Ace, and now me. We're all going on our own adventures now, but I'm gonna become the King of the Pirates!" Luffy told himself in determination, the docks growing further away. Only a few seconds later, there was a shaking and a giant sea king was rising from the water, but Luffy was undeterred, having faced much larger ones in the New World.

Jumping up, a quick gum gum pistol took the creature down, and he laughed some more, watching the stunned Lord of the Coast fall back into the water.

And thus, commenced his newest adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Note from 2020:
> 
> And with that, The Devil Wears White is over.
> 
> I have a lot to say, so this authors note is going to be as long as this chapter was. First, I'll start with notes about the chapter itself. I wanted to have the brothers come full circle back to their home island; see where it all started and realize how much they've grown. Also, how could I resist showing our favorites; Makino, Whoop Slap, Dadan, and the bandits? A trip down memory lane was exactly what was needed to end this long story.
> 
> Now, onto other notes. This story is something that I thought up all the way back in early 2016. Yes, you read that right. This story was 4 years in the making. Altogether, I tried writing this story three different times. The first version of this story made it up to eight chapters before I scrapped it and moved on, not liking how it was turning out. The next version had only six chapters until that was scrapped as well. Then, finally, this version was born and 100 chapter were written. All of the different versions had the same concept; the ASL trio getting kidnapped, taken to a facility, and eventually joining the Whitebeards. How this all happened though varied.
> 
> In the first version, in the facility, each brother had their own doctor, these three being the main antagonists. Rey was basically the early version of Haru and he was Luffy's doctor while Ace's was named Ko and Sabo's was Mori. They also had different numbers, which weren't tattooed onto them like in this version. After that, for the most part, things were mostly the same. There were small differences, like the facility having a different layout, and the brothers having slightly different powers, but other than that I didn't change much. I even kept some scenes from the original and moved them to this version, like Garp on Dawn Island after the brothers were kidnapped.
> 
> The second version was much more similar to this one. There was only one antagonist in it, but his name was Mikel rather than Haru. The brothers had their numbers, though they still didn't have them as tattoos, and the facility was a lot closer in layout as well. As mentioned before, I didn't get very far with this version so that's where any similarities or differences end.
> 
> And then there was this version which I started planning around the middle of 2017. The original outline that I wrote for this version had just barely 40 chapters to it. As I was writing though, I found that I wanted there to be more detail then what I had. Hence, I wrote the second outline which was a little over 50 chapters. Again, I felt like there was more I could add, and then, I wrote the final outline where I planned for up to 100 chapters. The title of this story changed many different times too. I was never really happy with any of the other ones I had, but eventually I landed on The Devil Wears White which I'm extremely happy with and I posted the first chapter on May 15, 2018. Now, on January 13, 2020, I'm posting the last chapter.
> 
> As for the future, I've stated before that I do plan to have a sequel for this story. So far, all I have for it though is a title. I still need to outline it- and knowing my track record, I'll need multiple outlines- and I also want to get a few chapters written before I start uploading it. Because of this, I won't be going into the sequel immediately. I want to take a short break before I start planning though, because this story has taken up so much of my time and thoughts throughout the years. That's not to say it was a bad thing though, I loved writing and thinking up new ideas for this story, but it was draining. With that said, after at least a two week break, I'll start the planning for the sequel, and hopefully I'll have something ready for you guys next month. At the latest, it'll be two months.
> 
> Rest assured, I will be back with the sequel, it just won't be immediately.
> 
> Finally, to everyone who has read this story and supported it, thank you so so so soooo much! I've made sure to thank you all at the end of every single chapter, and even though I've- literally- said it 100 times, I will continue to say it. Without you, I wouldn't have continued writing this story. As I said before, it was draining and extremely time consuming, but it was also fulfilling. Seeing the notifications on my phone that I was getting support was always so motivating. It made me excited to come back to my computer and write more for you guys. After four years in the works, I was able to write you all a story that I'm proud of, and it was all thanks to you.
> 
> And now, for the last time in this story, I'm thanking you all for everything you've done for me. I never expected to get this kind of response.
> 
> Here's to many more!

**Author's Note:**

> Original Note from 2018:
> 
> *Even though the brothers in canon didn't know Luffys parents at this time we're going to assume, in this story, that they do. It wouldn't be all that surprising if Garp managed to let it slip earlier then in canon after all.
> 
> Just some quick notes on this story:
> 
> -There are warnings as stated at the beginning, and if anyone thinks I should add more, tell me, I'll add them. I don't want to offend or hurt anyone because I didn't do a good job warning people of what's to come.
> 
> -The brothers will be given more powers, but it won't be anything too overpowering like multiple devil fruits or anything, just some things I come up with to spice this story up a bit.
> 
> -This story is rated M for safety and because of the mass amount of warnings and dark themes throughout the beginning of this story.
> 
> -There will not be any sexual content what-so-ever, whether it be consensual, non-con, rape, etc.
> 
> -There wont be any romance or pairings. This is not because I don't like pairings, but because I don't think it'll suit this story. I thank you if you leave a review stating a pairing you'd like to see, but there is absolutely zero chance of it happening.
> 
> -Every chapter I will aim for at least 3,000 words, excluding authors notes.
> 
> -None of this is beta read, but I do reread and spell check all of my chapters multiple times before uploading them. This being said, I'm only human.


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